The Crystal Child
by Knight of L-sama
Summary: [COMPLETE] Sequel to Inner Beings. Yay! Gourry and Lina get married after a LOT of trouble! But what's this? Part of Lina will have to go too? Please R
1. One The Arrival of a Child

A/N:  Here is my sequel to "Inner Beings".  It's about a little adventure Lina-tachi have before arriving in Barbados.  In this story, Lina-tachi consists of Lina (and Angelina), Mazolina, Kollina, Gourry, and Xellos.  Savor, read, enjoy.

One - Arrival of a Child

            Lina-tachi were peacefully walking through the small village on their way to Barbados.  It was about an hour before the sun actually set, so the sky was a mixture of many, many, colors, including red, orange, purple, and pink.  They stopped by a nearby fountain to look at the traveling map.  It was a regular day, with regular activities, until something strange happened once more.

            A small red cloud formed directly above Lina-tachi.  Since a lot of the sky was red already, Lina and Gourry didn't pay attention to it, but the others looked up in surprise.  As soon as it finished forming, the cloud quickly dispersed with a small 'poof', leaving behind a red-striped white sphere the size of a large beach ball.  As gravity took control, the ball suddenly plummeted to the ground, bouncing off of Lina's head on the way.  Apparently, the ball was a bit heavy, so Lina fell backwards onto the ground.

            Clutching her head where a small bump was forming, Lina groaned.  Soon, she regained her usual manner and started shouting out in front of her, "L-sama that hurt!  Who the heck would be dumb enough to pull a stunt like this?!  Why I'm gonna –"  Lina stopped in mid-sentence when she saw that nobody was in sight (other than her companions) and a large ball was shaking in front of her.  It rattled back and forth until it suddenly stopped.  Lina crawled timidly toward it, only to be surprised when the ball was shrouded by a pink cloud.  Lina stepped back again as she waited for the cloud to dissolve.  When it did, to everyone's complete surprise, it revealed a little girl, sitting with her hands rubbing dust from her eyes.

            The girl had pale blue hair down to her shoulder blades, with a few golden streaks running through her hair.  She wore a neat black shirt with "Princess" written in white on the middle of it, along with a matching pair of black Capri pants.  On her feet were white socks with little, black slip-on shoes.  Her main theme appeared to be black, and yet, she seemed no older than five.

            When the girl opened her eyes to reveal crystal-clear cerulean irises, she looked at the group before her questioningly, as they were to her.  She looked around and noticed her surroundings.  She was visibly getting more scared by the minute.  Timidly, as if afraid of the answer, she called out, "Onee-chan?  Lizzy, where are you?  Where am I?  How'd I get here?"  At this point, seeing that nobody answered her, the girl started bawling like a baby; little waterfalls of tears were streaming from her eyes.  Startled by this, Lina quickly bent down, reached out a hand, and comforted the little girl.  "Shhh . . . It's alright.  We'll help you find your way home.  Everything's going to be just fine.  Shhh . . ." Immediately, the girl stopped crying and looked up at Lina.  With a small smile, she said, "Gee, miss.  You sure are awfully nice.  What's your name?"  Returning a smile, Lina replied softly, "Lina.  Lina Inverse.  These are my friends *gestures toward the rest of the group* Gourry Gabriev, Xellos Metallium, Kollina and Mazolina.  What's your name?"  The girl stood up, but she was only tall enough to see eye to chin with Lina when she was bending down.  As she looked up into Lina's eyes, she chirruped, "My name is Crystal, but everybody calls me Cece.  Pleased to meet you! (Nice manners for a four year-old)" Lina nods and Gourry bends down as well.

            "Hello Cece.  Are you lost?"  Crystal shakes her head.  "Where are your parents?"  Crystal looks down and kicks a little rock with her shoe.  "My sister says that my dad disappeared one day.  Then my mother followed him a year ago.  Now I live with my older sister, Lizzy."  Xellos and Mazolina both twitched, but fortunately, nobody noticed.  Lina nods again and gently asks, "Where's your sister?  Do you need help getting home?"  Crystal slowly nodded.

            "A few minutes ago, I was at home with my sister.  We were watching a show called – Wait a minute.  Lina Inverse?  You were on the show!"  Crystal suddenly glomps Lina as she adds a muffled, "You're my hero!"  Lina blushed but gently patted Crystal's back.  When Crystal let go, she continued, but so quickly that it soon turned into ranting, "I was watching a show called Slayers with my sister.  It's a T. V. show that has you as the star!  When I see you use magic, it looks so cool, and I wished I knew how to do it.  I asked my sister once if she knew how, but just laughed at me.  A few minutes ago, I was leaning against the screen while I was watching.  I silently wished that I could adventure with you, and I suddenly found myself here!"  Crystal gasped for air as she calmed down.

            Everybody stared at Crystal as if she was from another world (Well, she is! ^_^).  Slowly, Lina asked, "Just where are you from, anyway?"  Jumping up and down with excitement at getting to meet her cartoon hero in person, Crystal answered, "Hm?  Oh, I'm from Phoenix, Arizona.  Ever heard of it?"  Apparently, Crystal thought that Lina-tachi were real actors like the ones on soap operas (and things like that).  Crystal stopped jumping when Kollina stepped forward, shook her head, and replied, "I'm afraid not.  This invention you've mentioned, the T. V., has not yet been created in this world.  I have a feeling that you are not from this world at all.  I believe that you have been transported to our world for some reason.  Perhaps it is to just carry out your wish, but I have a feeling that until that is accomplished, you will not be allowed to go back."

            Mazolina and Xellos nodded in agreement, but Lina, Gourry, and Crystal stared at Kollina in wonderment.  They had no idea what she was talking about.  Suddenly, a loud growl was heard, and it wasn't coming from Lina's stomach.  Lina-tachi looked back at Crystal.  She rubbed the back of her head and smiled sheepishly.  "I haven't eaten since lunch and that was about four hours ago, I think.  I'm kind of hungry.  Hehe."  Lina-tachi smiled at this and Lina leaned forward.  "Alright.  We were just going to an inn to stay for the night.  Would you like to come along and eat with us?"  At this, Crystal grinned widely and vigorously bobbed her head up and down.  Lina chuckled and stood up.  Crystal instantly clutched Lina's cape and hung on with one hand.  Lina laughed again, but started walking.  Her companions followed close behind her.

            After about ten minutes of walking, they entered the Illustrious Inn.  It was not only eye-catching on the outside, it was breathtakingly beautiful on the inside.  After the group ordered from the outrageously high-priced menu and paid for their rooms, they sat down at two tables; Lina, Gourry, and Crystal at the first, and Xellos, Mazolina, and Kollina at the next.  Due to the high prices, the inn was deserted of any other customers.  Therefore, the food appeared much faster than usual, and more exquisite than usual.  Like a kind mother, Lina cut up Crystal's meat before starting on her own.  Earlier, she had shared her menu with Crystal and allowed her to pick her own food.  By the time they had finished eating, it was all ready evening (about 7 or 8 pm).  Once Kollina had finished her small meal (she had finished long before anyone else), she excused herself and went up to her room.

            About five minutes after everyone had finished their dinner, plus desert, Kollina came back down and seated herself.  Turning to Lina, she solemnly said, "Lina-san.  I just spoke to L-sama about the reasons behind Crystal's sudden arrival.  She states that Crystal is here to find her parents.  Apparently, they both vanished from their world, into this world, much like Crystal here.  Time passes about ten times quicker here than in their world.  So they have already been here for about 5 and 40 years.  But L-sama also says that because of _how_ they arrived, they have been imprisoned within two separate bodies of people here.  The last thing she said was that until Crystal finds her parents, they will not be able to come home.  We must help her achieve this, as she cannot do it alone."  Lina blinked at Kollina for a few moments.  Soon, she groaned and put a hand to her forehead, and her elbow on the table.  She mumbled, "Oh great, another adventure.  Ah well.  I suppose we should.  We can't leave this little girl all alone in this world.  She'll get herself killed easily the next day."

            Crystal had been listening and was at first happy, then surprised, then scared.  She was happy that she could find her parents here, surprised that time passed ten times quicker here, and scared that if left alone, she'd be killed easily.  Crystal looked at Lina for reassurance.  Lina saw this and patted her head while saying, "Don't worry.  We won't abandon you.  Maybe if you're strong enough, I can teach you some basic magic to protect yourself.  What do you say? (Teaching magic to a 4 year-old?!!  Yesh . . . Imagine what damage that could cause . . .)" Crystal happily smiled and nodded eagerly.  "I can't wait!  When can we start?"  Kollina smiled and said, "As soon as you wake up tomorrow."  As if on cue, Crystal stifled a big yawn and rubbed her eyes tiredly.  Lina smiled at this and lead her upstairs.  As usual, everybody else followed.

            When they reached the rooms, Lina asked Crystal, "Who do you want to share rooms with?   There are three rooms to choose from.  Crystal looked down and shyly started pivoting her foot a little.  In a small voice she said, "Um . . . Back home, I used to sleep with my sister all the time.  Can I sleep with you? (Coming from a guy, he'd be toast, but from a cute, little girl . . .)" Lina smiled and said, "Sure, come on.  Kollina, share rooms with Mazolina.  Gourry, share rooms with Xellos.  Everyone else nodded and went into their rooms.  The guys' room was on the right side of the hallway and the spirits' room was right across from them.  Straight ahead, at the end of the hallway, was where Lina and Crystal slept that night.  Crystal climbed into bed first and scooted over automatically.  Lina soon followed.  When she was settled down, Crystal snuggled up against her, and they both fell asleep comfortably.

A/N:  Wow.  Lina shared a bed with a toddler she had just met a few hours ago.  It must be Angelina's work.  ^_^  Also, Crystal seems very mature.  I'm sorry if she's a bit too OOC for a four-year-old, but I don't have much experience with them.  Maybe I'll just have her be a child prodigy, a child genius.  Please review.  Positive comments will be much better received than negative ones, but they will also be received.  If I get at least one review, I'll continue. That's not asking for too much, is it? ^_________^


	2. Two Magical Lessons and Abilities

A/N:  I'm glad at least someone likes my story. ^_^  I thank anybody for reviews!  I'm telling you now that Crystal will have a special affinity for water.  I'm not sure what is the easiest – hardest from the little magic spells, so I'm guessing.  If you know who you want Crystal's parent to be, please tell me and I'll consider it.  Thank you!  On with the story!

Two - Magical Lessons and Abilities

            Crystal shifted restlessly in her sleep.  In her dream, she was completely surrounded by water.  She whimpered frantically.  She was drowning, going deeper and deeper into the depths of an ocean.  Suddenly, as Crystal fainted, a beautiful blue-haired lady with a large flipper instead of legs (A mermaid) swam towards her swiftly and gracefully.  The mermaid took hold of Crystal and propelled her to the surface.  Making sure that nobody saw her, she gently laid Crystal on the shore before returning to the sea.  Just before she left, she whispered in Crystal's ear, "Grow up well, my darling.  One day, you shall return and do great things, but for now, live a peaceful life."  Thoroughly shaken up, Crystal sat up straight in bed.  Her eyes were wide with confusion (I'd say terror but that was taken away when she was saved).  Crystal looked around and sighed with relief.  She was nowhere near water.  She was in a cozy inn room with the super-nice lady, Lina-oneesan.

            Feeling Crystal sit up abruptly, Lina also woke up.  When she saw Crystal's bewildered expression, she also sat up.  Putting a comforting arm around her shoulder, Lina asked, "What's wrong?  Did you have a bad dream?"  Crystal silently nodded.  "Want to tell me what it was about?"  Crystal nodded again and told her every detail.  To say Lina was surprised by this was an understatement.  But for the sake of Crystal, Lina didn't show it.  She whispered, "Maybe that mermaid was your mother, her form that she took here.  Perhaps you've been here before, but don't remember it.  If you like, we can ask the others what they think of it, at breakfast.  Kollina and Xellos, not to mention Mazolina, are all very smart and knowledgeable when it comes to strange things in this world.  I, myself, only know a small fraction of it, but I'll also try to help you in any way I can.  I'm sure Gourry would, too."  Lina stops momentarily to look out the window before turning back to the sullen girl.  "It should be just around sunrise now.  If it's too early for you, you can go back to sleep.  If you don't want to go back to sleep, then we can get up and do some starter magic exercises.  What do you want to do?"

            Crystal thought about this.  She was afraid that if she went back to sleep, she'd have another bad dream.  So she chose the second option.  With an encouraging smile, Lina told Crystal.  "Okay.  Let's get out of bed and make the bed first.  Then we can wash up and stretch for the day."  Crystal now happily nodded and jumped out of bed.  After doing some normal stretches, Lina led Crystal outside.  With a quick whisper, "It's better to do this somewhere not a lot of people are and when nobody is even awake, "Crystal followed Lina to the edge of town, and the edge of a forest.

            Once there, Lina stopped and put a gentle hand on Crystal's forehead.  She closed her eyes and whispered a small spell.  A few minutes later, she felt a strong jolt of power and quickly released her hand.  Staring at Crystal, she told her, "You most definitely have a strong magic aura.  I think with practice, you'll be a fine sorceress one day.  Let's start with something easy, something non-explosive.  It's known as an Aqua Create."  Lina showed Crystal how to do the movements with her hands, and memorize the chant.  Surprisingly, about an hour after they started, Crystal had the spell down, extremely well for a kid, especially one of her age.  In a childlike manner, Crystal recited, "Aqua Create!"  As soon as those words left her mouth, a stream of water flew out of her hand, burrowed a hole into the ground a few yards in front of her, and curved into a neat pool of crystal-clear water.

            Amazed at her quick skill and catching on, Lina clapped approvingly.  As she walked towards Crystal, she stated, "That's great!  You catch on really quickly, Cece-chan!  I think it's time for breakfast now though, so let's go back inside.  We'll continue a bit more afterwards, before we go on to the next town."  Crystal smiled and followed Lina once again back to the inn.  

Everybody was already eating.  When Lina entered, they all stopped to look to see who it was.  They all smiled as Kollina said, "My, aren't you two up early?  Where did you go?"  As they sat down next to Gourry, Lina replied, "Crystal had a bad dream, so we ended up waking earlier than we should have.  Actually, I was planning to get up soon anyway.  Well, we went outside and practiced a little magic.  Crystal easily mastered an Aqua Create within an hour.  It really surprised me.  She also has a really strong aura."  Lina stopped to order something.  Interested, Mazolina put two fingers on Crystal's forehead, and did exactly what Lina had done, even the reaction.  Turning to Lina, she said, "You're right.  But know what?  That aura . . . it seems familiar.  I think it's . . . no, it couldn't be.  Xellos, what do you think?"  With a serious nod, Xellos said, "There's no doubt about it.  That girl has an essence of mazoku about her."  Curious, Crystal asked Lina, "What's mazoku?"  With a grim smile, Kollina answered," A mazoku is a monster.  They are a very powerful race in this world, but love to cause chaos and destruction.  This is all very strange, but I have a feeling we'll find out soon enough.  After breakfast, let's all go outside and see just what she is capable of."  Everyone nodded at this, besides Gourry and Crystal, and continued to eat the food before them.

Soon after breakfast, Lina-tachi, including Crystal, made their way to the open patch of land between the town and the forest.  Lina was the first to speak.  "All right, Cece.  Do anything that you think might work.  I'll put a protection spell on us and the village, so you don't have to worry about hurting anyone."  Crystal nodded and looked up in thought.  A few seconds later, she had it.  Crystal turned to the forest, and started chanting a foreign spell, accompanied by a few hand gestures.

"Abra Kadabra,

Puddin' n' Pie,

Make the thing before me Die!

DEATH MIST!"

Out of the triangle that she had made with her hands, came a burst of sparkling blue mist.  It flowed quickly to the tree directly in front of her, and surrounded it.  Soon after it did so, a cracking could be heard, and the full-bloom evergreen tree wilted before their very eyes.  In half a minute, it was completely dead and was starting to rot.  After seeing this strange spell finish, Lina-tachi stared at Crystal.  Kollina slowly asked, "Where did you learn that spell?  The first two lines were childish yes, but the last two and the result definitely were not."  With a cute and innocent look, Crystal put an imploring finger on her chin.  "I don't know.  Did I do something wrong?"  Still eyeing her strangely, Lina shook her head.  "Not exactly.  We just didn't expect a spell like that to come from one so young.  By the way, how old are you?  You seem extremely mature at times, for someone so small."  Smiling widely, Crystal replied, "Thank you, Lina-oneesan!  The last time I checked, I was four years-old.  But today should be my birthday, so now I'm five!"

Everyone sweatdropped.  A five-year-old easily cast what was no doubt a high-level spell, and it seemed to be very deadly at that.  With what it did to a tree, they didn't even want to think about what it could do to a human, or a monster.  Snapping out of the stare, Mazolina told Crystal, "That's very good.  You seem to like water quite a bit.  How about learning a Demona Crystal?  I could be your trademark when you travel."  Mazolina winked at Crystal.  Crystal wasn't sure what Mazolina meant, but nodded.  Mazolina proceeded to teach Crystal the same way Lina did, as Angelina (through Lina) restored the tree that Crystal had killed.

Again, in about an hour, Crystal mastered it.  She used her Aqua Create pool to cast it.

"You who crosses between sky and earth

Gently flowing water

Gather in my hand and become my power

DEMONA CRYSTAL!"

Once again, Crystal cast it perfectly and froze the whole tree right up.  Putting on an amused smile, Kollina stepped forward.  "That was exceptionally good.  Now I wonder.  How well you could do with an electric spell?  Let's try a Diggor Bolt."  Kollina then proceeded to teach Crystal as Mazolina fireballed the tree and Lina healed it.  However, Crystal's results were not the same as last time.  She chanted it just fine, but . . .

"Wind, crimson flame.

Grant me the power of thunder into my hand

DIGGER BOLT!"

            If everyone expected it to fire off perfectly, they were, to say the least, disappointed.  A thin strand of lightning came from her hand, stopped halfway to the tree before it fell down and disappeared with a 'plop'.  Everyone sweatdropped at this.  Compared to her water spells, Crystal's Diggor Bolt was like Lina's around her "time of the month".  Cocking her head, she asked, "Was it supposed to be like that?"  Kollina patted Crystal on the head.  "I'm afraid not, Cece.  It seems that any spell other than water-based ones are going to take you a lot longer to learn.  It's all right though. You're still young.  You have a lot more time to practice and perfect your spells.  I think this is enough training for now.  Let's start going toward the next town."  Everyone nodded and started walking.  Lina made sure to recover Crystal's strength before they came to the edge of town.  The town was surrounded by a forest, so Lina-tachi had to cross the town and enter the forest again before coming out the other end into an open plain.

            When they were about 15 minutes into the forest, they were ambushed by a group of bandits.  Lina and Mazolina groaned as the bandit leader declared the typical, "Hand over all your money and we just might let you live!"  With an annoyed look, Mazolina replied back, "Listen bub.  We are all stronger than you'll ever be.  Heck, even this little kid *gestures toward Crystal* could kill you all with one spell.  Dare try your luck?"  The bandit sneered.  "Yeah right.  How could a pipsqueak like that even scorch me?  Pah!  Try your best squirt!"  Mazolina calmly said, "If that's what you want.  Crystal, give him your best Death Mist."  Crystal nodded and started chanting.  At the first two lines, all the bandits laughed at her, but for the sake of the spell, she ignored them.  With the last shout of DEATH MIST, Crystal fired the spell.

            On her command, a familiar pale blue mist shot from her hands and engulfed the unfortunate bandits.  What happened next was no laughing matter.  Everyone watched spellbound as they watched the mist slowly corrode and melt every single bandit, at the same rate.  (Remember what happened to those villagers in Mypross Island?  That's the kind of corroding I'm talking about.)  Since the target was bigger this time, about 25 bandits all together, it took a bit longer.  However, the mist and bandits still dissolved within five minutes.  Knowing that Crystal could now control and use a deadly attack like that, Lina-tachi made extra sure to stay on Crystal's good side ever since.

A/N: Wow.  Powerful spell, no?  Sure the first part is a bit childish, but she is a kid after all.  I made it up last night.  I think it's kind of catchy.  Hehe.  Please review!


	3. Three The Journey Continues

A/N:  Thank you for reviews – more are welcome!  I don't mind having Dolphin as a possible mother, but Jillas as a father? Blech _  An insane monster lord and a weak fox guy? Ugh . . .

Disclaimer:  I don't own Slayers, so don't sue.  I never have, I never will.

Three – The Journey Continues

          As Lina-tachi walked through the forest, Crystal was getting very restless with the eerie silence.  With a little whimper, she asked the person closest to her, Kollina, when they would come to the next town.  While continuing to look ahead, Kollina replied, "We should arrive there in three or four days.  We'll have to camp out for a while."  At the thought of camping out in the middle of the dark forest, Crystal whimpered again and walked a bit closer to Kollina.  Kollina chuckled and reassured her, "Don't worry.  You'll still be able to sleep on a bed and inside a tent.  We'll also post watches so that nobody springs a surprise attack on us."  Crystal exhaled with relief, but was still a bit scared.

            Crystal looked down as she walked, thinking about random things in her head.  Remembering something, Crystal looked up and asked to no one in particular, "Hey, can I use my Death Mist as my trademark?  What did Mazolina-san mean by 'trademark' anyway?"  At this, everybody stopped, turned around to face her, and abruptly declared, "NO."  As they turned back to start walking again, Crystal looked at Lina imploringly.  With a sigh, Lina walked backward so that she was at Crystal's side.  "You've seen me use fireballs a lot, right?"  Crystal nods.  "That's my trademark.  It's basically your favorite spell or attack that you become known for.  Like Gourry's is, or was, the Sword of Light because the sword was legendary.  The reason why you can't use your Death Mist as a trademark is because, well, it's way too dangerous.  You know that whenever you use it, you'll kill something or someone.  Gourry can use a regular blade so that he doesn't have to kill anyone, and I can tone down my fireballs so that they just scorch the target unconscious, but you can't reverse a spell that dissolves the target into nothingness.  You know?"  Slowly, Crystal nodded, understanding the problem.

            After thinking for a while, about an hour or so, Crystal asked, "Then what can I use?  I really want one, I love magic already."  With a shrug, Mazolina replied, "Who knows?  As far as we know, you can only cast three spells.  Maybe we'll find you one once you learn more."  Crystal smiled and nodded.  A long while later, Kollina stopped and stated, "It's night time.  We should stop for the night."  Confused, Crystal asked, "How can you tell?  The trees are blocking any light."  As Mazolina started to look for a clearing to set up camp, Kollina shortly answered, "I can sense it."  Crystal was still confused, but accepted this answer.  By that time, Mazolina had found a place and was starting to heave things out of her cloak with Gourry and Lina's help.

            At first, Crystal could only stare wide-eyed as four beds, four little tents, a large bag of firewood, and a bag of food came easily out of Mazolina's cape.  Feeling that she might be annoying if she asked how she did that, Crystal kept quiet and just watched as they set things up.  Xellos, as usual, simply floated to a tree branch and watched as everyone else pitched in to get things set up quicker.  Even Crystal helped; she arranged the wood and stones for the fire.  After dinner was finished, everyone realized that they weren't the least bit tired.

            Thinking of something, Gourry happily asked Crystal, "Hey, do you want to learn to swordfight?"  Kollina and Lina answered for her, "No.  She's too young."  With a sigh, Gourry slumped a little on his log.  Taking a quick glance at Xellos, Crystal said, "I want to learn to float and fly.  Can you teach me?"  Kollina and Lina exchanged quick glances and shrugged.  Kollina replied, "Sure.  I suppose so.  Lina, do you want to do it, or should I?"  With a smile, Lina leaned back.  "Nah.  As much as I'd love to, I think I'll make Crystal some proper clothes.  We're going to head north somewhat, and nights are always cold anyways.  The clothes she has now just won't do here."  Kollina nodded and stood up.  She gestured for Crystal to do the same.

            It seemed to take Crystal a bit longer, about two hours, to get the hang of Levitation.  By the time she was flying around and around the clearing effortlessly, Lina had finished (She used magic to help her so it took shorter than usual, but it still took a while).  She called Crystal down so that she could try them on.  Lina helped her change inside her tent.  When she finished, they went outside to see the others' reactions.  Gourry liked it so much he clapped, Kollina nodded approvingly, Mazolina and Xellos shrugged (They couldn't care less).

            The outfit was much like Lina's movie outfit, besides the colors.  The shirt was a pale blue, the pants were a dark blue shade, she had on black boots, and a black-exterior navy blue-interior cape.  She also had two matching sapphire barrettes in her hair, a black belt with a gold buckle, and a pair of small off-white gloves on her hands.  Crystal had matching black shoulder guards trimmed with gold and three diamonds engraved into each side.  With her cute and innocent face, she was simply adorable.  Afterwards, the days in the forest passed basically the same way.  During the day, they would walk with minimum speaking, at night they would camp out, and after dinner, Crystal would learn a new spell or two.  By the time they finally got out of the forest, she knew Death Mist, Aqua Create, Demona Crystal, Diggor Bolt, Levitation, Ray Wing, Freeze Arrow, Icicle Lance, and a weak Recovery.

            When they reached the open plains, Lina-tachi decided to take a needed nap among the grass and flowers.  Long behold, not long after they settled down, they were attacked.  Not just any attackers too, it had to be a small group of semi-strong monsters.  Fortunately, before they could attack, the whole group was poised and ready-for-battle.  Lina tried to kill one with her Elmekia Lances, but their astral bodies were too large.  Gourry stepped forward, and with the sword Lina gave him, surprised the monsters by successfully slicing one in half.  He sliced, he diced, and he chopped the second monster.  Unfortunately, he didn't get a chance to attack again before he was knocked back by another monster.  Gourry flew back, and hit a rock – bounding him unconscious.  Lina rushed to heal his wounds.

            Next, Mazolina easily demolished one of the monsters with a spell she created herself.  She chanted softly and called out, "Mazom Makium!"  Kollina also casually defeated a monster with a strong blast of chaos in the form of a ball.  Now there were only two left.  Xellos decided to sit back and watch.  Finally, Crystal stepped forward.  When they saw her trying to cast a spell, they jeered at her.  Not letting this get to her, Crystal fired off the spell, a Demona Crystal.  Normally, this would have frozen and then the monster would have easily broken out. However, before he could break out, Crystal cast a Death Mist.

            The last monster was able to get out of the way, but the frozen one wasn't as lucky.  With fear coursing through its veins (well, you know what I mean), the monster slowly looked towards the little girl, who had just killed a strong monster by herself.  Then he slowly pieced together, "Wait a minute.  Blue hair, crystal-clear eyes, blue sorceress outfit, THAT spell . . . Oh no!  The Crystal Child!  SHE'S returned!!!  I must inform the master!"  With even more terror than before, the monster scrambled away and teleported before anyone else could kill him.  At the description that the monster gave of Crystal, Xellos suddenly realized what he was talking about.  He also knew why he was so scared of her, but he wasn't about to tell anybody.  Mazolina and Kollina had yet to discover it, but the whole group was sure to find out soon.

            Everyone had heard what he had said, but only Xellos could make sense of it.  Gourry didn't know anything as usual because a minute later, he forgot what the monster said.  Mazolina had never bothered with other monsters, so she was just uninformed.  Kollina also didn't pay much attention to mazoku lords, but knew some basic information.  Lina didn't know since Angelina worked for the other side (Celphieed instead of Shabringdo), but was still very worried.  Crystal was still a child and a new traveler in the Slayers World, so of course, she didn't know.  After healing everyone's wounds (in between attacks, the monsters had randomly attacked back), Lina-tachi made their way into town, but not before Mazolina went up behind Crystal and bonked her on the head.  Lina and Gourry gasped as Crystal started getting teary-eyed.

            "Didn't we tell you specifically NOT to use that attack?!  Geez . . . It was only alright this time because it killed that monster, but still!  You can't keep firing off Death Mists every single time we're attacked!  We usually get attacked once or twice every DAY when we're traveling!  Not only am I sure that it zaps you of almost all your strength, it isn't NECESSARY!  Got it?!  Another thing, just what did you do that made a MONSTER so freaking SCARED of you?  Huh?!" In response, Crystal looked upwards, shut her eyes, and immediately started bawling.  Mazolina scowled at this but watched Crystal closely.  Lina comforted Crystal, but as soon as she calmed down, she got up.  Quickly, she walked around where she had just cried, and started picking up several pieces of small, sparkling, blue shards, or at least that's what they appeared to be.  Once she finished collecting whatever it was, she sat down again and started molding the pieces together (like Play-doh).  Soon, she accomplished this task as well and went up to Mazolina.  With a happy grin plastered on her face, Crystal outstretched a small fist towards her.  In surprise, Mazolina held a hand under Crystal's and she dropped something into it.  When Mazolina peered closer at the object, she gasped.  Lina-tachi hovered around Mazolina, trying to see what it was.  The object in her hand was a perfectly smooth, sparkling, dazzling, blue, diamond in the size and shape of a golf ball.  Stuttering in large astonishment, Mazolina slowly turned to Crystal.  "H – How – How did you do that?"

            Grinning wider now, Crystal answered, "I can make these diamonds with my tears.  I learned it by myself when I was crying the other night in the woods.  Remember when I tripped and started crying?  Well, after Lina-oneesan picked me up, I noticed something glittering on the ground.  I bent down to pick it up, and I liked the look of it so much, I picked up the rest of them.  When Gourry-san called me to hurry up, I hastily mashed them together in my pocket.  I had it all in my fist, so without me knowing it, it turned into a deformed diamond.  The next night, while everyone was still asleep, I tried to do it again.  I perfected it so that I could make it into a perfect ball.  Cool, huh?"

            Kollina stared at Crystal, the diamond, and then back at Crystal.  She had a grim expression as usual, but it was now mixed with some confusion.  "This diamond is very rare in this world.  It is said that it can only be found in the big oysters living at the bottom of the Deep Dead Sea (the sea that Dolphin lives in).  Thus, this type of diamond is one of the rarest objects of all.  They're priceless.  You have been given an exceptionally unique and rare gift.  Make sure you never lose it."  Crystal nodded in a half-dazed wonderment.  How could someone lose the gift of crying solid tears that can be molded into a large diamond?  With a small grumble, Mazolina mumbled, "I guess that answers my last question – she's called the Crystal Child because she cries crystal tears that turn into diamonds.  Ugh.  But that still doesn't explain why that monster seemed petrified of her."  Still wondering about Crystal's unique gift, Lina-tachi made their way into town.

            At a booth in the corner of a fancy restaurant, Lina-tachi discussed what the monster could have possibly meant.  They all knew that he had been referring to Crystal, but could not make much sense after that.  Xellos mentioned that he knew exactly what he had meant, but when questioned further, he simply replied, "Sore wa . . . himitsu desu!"  With a groan, Lina-tachi finished eating and then Gourry, Xellos, Lina, Mazolina, and Crystal went to the hot springs in the back of the local inn (separate sides of course!).  Meanwhile, Kollina went up to her room to once again try to get an answer from L-sama.

            Since other people were enjoying the baths as well, Lina-tachi soaked in silence.  As soon as they dried themselves off, Kollina met them in the lobby.  With her usual frown, she said, "L-sama knows very well who Crystal really is, but she's not going to tell us straight out.  She says we'll find out on our own.  Very soon."  Little did they know, they would begin to find out the very next day.

A/N:  Okay!  Done with this chapter.  ^__^  How'd you like it?  I noticed something while I was writing; the cast didn't change much.  Angelina takes the place of the nice priestess like person, Amelia.  Mazolina takes the place of rowdy and mean Lina.  Kollina takes the place of serious and non-conversationalist Zelgadis.  Strange, no?  I didn't purposely make it that way, it just turned out that way.  Still looking for a name for a father and mother for Crystal.  Please review!  Thank you!


	4. Four Mazoku Messengers

A/N:  Sorry this chapter took longer than usual, but if you mix together a bit of writer's block, lots of procrastination, fading imagination, and not enough sleep – this is what you get.  I hope you like it though.  Oh yeah, I figured out who Crystal's parents are going to be.  I don't particularly like this pairing, but it fits for this story.  So no flames, but Please read and review.

Disclaimer: I've never own Slayers and I never will.

Four – Mazoku Messengers

            Crystal woke up from a fitful sleep to find herself alone in the large room.  The annoyingly loud chirping of the birds along with the aroma of scrumptious breakfast foods made a combined effort to successfully arouse her from bed.  As Crystal came down, she could already hear Lina-tachi munching away at breakfast, well, mainly Lina and Gourry.  Kollina and Mazolina had already finished their small meal.  Xellos feasted on Lina and Gourry's hostility (Angelina is sleeping in again, so she's not interfering).  Lina and Gourry were only half-way done with their meal now, but the plates were already stacked above their heads.

            As casually as if she had done it all her life, Crystal sat down next to Lina, picked up a fork, and speared a sausage off a plate in front of Lina.  With a child-like grin, she popped the sausage into her mouth and chewed happily.  The others watched in slight fear as Lina stopped eating and turned to Crystal with a venomous glare.  Completely missing the danger she was in, Crystal turned to face Lina with an angelic, innocent look.  Her expression just seemed to say, "Did I do something wrong?"  After a few moments of glaring, Lina's eyes softened slightly, she growled, but continued to eat.  Taking this as an invitation, Crystal neatly picked out various bits of food from the selection in front of her.  The others stared as Lina seemingly ignored this and still continued to eat.  After a while, Mazolina and Xellos started chatting quietly about various monster issues.

            Almost as soon as breakfast was over, Lina-tachi gathered their belongings and started on the road again.  Since Lina had never really traveled in this area, it was abundant in bandits.  Since Mazolina and Kollina were all too powerful, Gourry didn't want to battle if Lina wasn't interested, Lina was too kind to do any damage, and Xellos just watched, it was up to Crystal to take care of them.  Sure, every once in a while they'd do their part, but Crystal ended up taking care of most of them.  When Crystal started to complain, Mazolina said, "It's good practice.  These guys are such weaklings that even you can easily finish them off.  Plus, it gives you a chance to practice the spells you just learned on something alive."  Crystal accepted this answer and continued to finish off bandits without complaining.

            Thus, by the time they were only a three-day's walk to Barbados, Crystal soon gained the nickname 'Demon Child'.  When put together with the infamous 'Dragon Spooker', you can just imagine how much fear was put into spectators' eyes when they passed.  Mazolina was ignorant of these rumors, until one man was dumb enough to say it in front of her.

            Lina-tachi walked up to the gate of Elmecca, the castle capital of Elmekia Empire.  The guards stopped them and sternly demanded, "Who goes there?  State your name and pur-*Gasp*"  With an annoyed look, Mazolina put her hands on her hips and said, "and what, you chicken-livered popsicles? (I don't know, something rude)" The guards ignored the last remark and backed up against the city wall in apparently, fright.  Finally, one guard stuttered out, "It . . . It's Lina Inverse, the Enemy of All Who Live and Dragon Spooker! *Mazolina, Kollina, and Lina start to show stressmarks* With her is the Demon Child, the Apprentice of the Bandit Killer.  I – I'm afraid I can't let you pass.  Elmecca has always been a peaceful place.  You would only disrupt this peace completely."  Mazolina briefly smirked.  She had to admit that the guy had guts for saying all that to their faces.  And he would pay, dearly.  Though she was only five, Crystal understood the meaning of his words and was also provoked.  Gourry spoke first.  "Um . . . You really shouldn't have said all that, you know.  They're kinda sensitive about what people say about them.  I think you should run for your lives now."  The two guards tried with all their might to run away as fast as they could, but to no avail.

            First, Crystal threw small Freeze Arrows at their feet so that they could no longer move.  Next, Mazolina decided on just torture instead of actual death, so she cast a light fireball on both of them.  Of course, 'light' to her meant burning them to a crisp and rendering them unconscious.  Simultaneously, Crystal and Mazolina clapped together their hands to shake off imaginary dust.  With a sneer, Mazolina looked down upon the two men.  "That should teach you manners.  NEVER and I mean NEVER insult us, ESPECIALLY to our faces.  Hmph."  With a sigh and slight shaking of her head, Kollina turned to the rest of the group.  "Come on.  Let's just walk in and find ourselves a restaurant to eat dinner.  It's almost sundown.  We'll leave again at night."  So, with a more relaxed air, each of them stepped over the limp figures and casually walked into the busy city.

            Everybody who looked in fear at the group received a malicious growl and glare from Lina.  This gradually worked up her temper, and ate ferociously that night.  This in turn, allowed other diners to stare at her in amazement as she piled more and more food onto her plate, even more than the old Lina's usual amount.  Finally, Mazolina couldn't stand the tension anymore and released a Dragon Slave.  As quick as she could say the last words, Crystal's eyes glazed over and in a somewhat robotic voice, chanted a foreign spell, at least to Lina, Gourry and the other diners.  Well, when Crystal released the spell, a strange green mist flowed from her hands and quickly wrapped itself around the developing Dragon Slave.  Apparently, the spell made the Dragon Slave shrink immensely.  However, since the Dragon Slave had been made because of anger and provocation, the spell didn't level off the whole city.  It only sent the restaurant in flames.  Without even paying their bill, Mazolina and Kollina teleported themselves (plus Gourry and Crystal) just outside of the castle.  Xellos brought Lina.

            Deciding to run from there, Lina-tachi raced towards Barbados.  They finally stopped about an hour's run from Elmecca.  As they caught their breath, Lina turned to Crystal.  She gasped out, "All right, Crystal.  Explain yourself.  Just what kind of spell did you cast on Mazolina's Dragon Slave?  I've never seen it before."  Shaking her head frantically, Crystal pleaded innocence.  "I have no idea, I swear!  I don't even remember casting it!  One minute, I sat there watching Mazolina mumble the spell, and then I blacked out!  When I came to, we were teleported outside the city walls!  It's the truth!"  Sensing her distress, Gourry smiled and patted her head.  "It's alright, Crystal.  You didn't do anything wrong, really.  You saved the town from being destroyed.  The only problem is, I don't think anyone knows just how you did it.  Like how you knew that Death Mist spell even though you were completely new to this world and magic in general."  Crystal bent down her head and nodded.

            Suddenly, a voice cackled in the wind.  Then it spoke.  "So you wish to find out how she did it, eh?  She was able to do it because I channeled my power through her.  Bwa, ha ha hahahaha .  ."  The voice was interrupted by another mysterious voice.  "Stop your stupid cackling Krowser.  We have work to do."

            With a growl, Mazolina gritted, "Who's there?!  Show yourselves!"  With that, two adult male figures materialized above them.  The moon had long since been out, and it now hovered ominously behind them.  One figure was in a dark emerald cloak and the other was wearing a dark navy blue cloak.  Each wore hoods and their cloaks covered their bodies, but their smiles could still be seen.

            The figure in the blue cloak spoke first, revealing that he had been the first voice.  "I am the current general of Lady Deep Sea Dolphin and my companion is a high-level minion of Lord Dynast.  We have been sent here to retrieve the one known as Crystal, the Demon Child.  Hand her over peacefully, or we shall be forced to fight you and take her by force."  In response, the four adults barred the mysterious newcomers' view of Crystal.  Kollina replied in the obvious, "Do you have any idea who you're messing with?  We three are currently stronger than any Mazoku Lord or anyone with lower power than them in this world.  You don't stand a chance.  Also, what would a couple of Mazoku Lords want with a little girl?"

            The emerald-cloaked mazoku answered her.  "We are also known as Kruiser and Krowser.  To answer your last question – Sore wa . . . none of your business.  So buzz off.  Yes, we know exactly who you are.  We respect you, Knight of L-sama, and know very well that we may not win should we fight.  We only ask for the girl.  Give her to us, and we shall leave you at peace."  At this, both monsters bowed before Kollina.  With an angry glare, Mazolina stepped forward.  "Hey!  What about me!"  Giving her an icy glare, Kruiser (emerald cloak) replied, "You are not worth our time.  Now give us the girl!"

            Slowly, Crystal floated above the others and they could see that she was tearing up (Crying not ripping).  "I'll never go with you meanie butts!!  Go away!"  The others, including Kruiser and Krowser, sweat dropped at this.  Krowser smiled and shook his head.  "You're right.  We are being 'meanies' aren't we?  This is no way to treat a girl of your caliber.  Allow me to make some swift adjustments."  Before anyone could object, Krowser snapped his fingers in front of him.  His appearance immediately changed to that of a middle-aged lady with blue hair and a kindly look.  As Kruiser psychically moved the adults aside and froze them, Crystal came floating down again.  Softly, Krowser flew down to her, and bowed in front of her.  With a kindly look, he . . . erm . . . she held out a hand and gently said, "I'm sorry, Crystal dear.  Would you like to meet your mother?"

            Crystal's eyes lit up as she asked, "My mommy's here?!  Where, where, where?"  Crystal looked left and right as if hoping that she would find her mother somewhere nearby.  With a chuckle, Krowser nodded.  "She is here, in this world, but she is far away from here.  We can easily get to there if we teleport, however."  Before Crystal could reply, Kollina suddenly realized who he was talking about and shouted to Crystal, "Don't go, Crystal!  If you do, you'll go over completely!  Don't do it!"  Quickly turning Crystal's eyes back to him, Krowser hastily said, "Don't listen to her.  You belong with us, and with your mother."  With hope in her eyes, Crystal asked, "What about Daddy?  Is he here?  My sister said that after Daddy left, Mommy followed him.  Where is he?"  With a mysterious smile, Krowser replied, "He may not be ready for you.  He resides far to the north.  But my lady, your mother, will be more than happy to welcome you to her new home here.  So, will you accompany us back to her palace?"  Ignoring Kollina's warning, without a single thought towards the others, Crystal smiled and nodded.

            Krowser and Kruiser also smiled, as Krowser picked Crystal up.  Krowser had it so that while Crystal was holding onto his hand, she was floating beside him.  As soon as Krowser came back up next to Kruiser, Crystal waved goodbye and the three figures teleported away.  Immediately after they left, Lina-tachi were released from the Freeze spell.  Kollina fell to her knees and pounded a fist into the ground.  "*Bleep* (Curse word)!  They got away!  I can't believe this.  We have to get her back before it's too late!"  Gourry, still as dumb as ever, asked, "Why?  She seems to be in good hands.  Cece wasn't really with us in the beginning."  Mazolina, having figured out what Crystal was long ago, snapped back, "You idiot!  Didn't you see it before?!  Crystal is a VERY High-Level monster reincarnated as a human.  The monster she was reincarnated from was VERY important to Deep Sea Dolphin, the Mazoku Lord living in the Dead Sea.  If she manages to awaken the true mazoku inside her, Crystal will be our worst enemy!  I can't believe we actually taught her magic too!  So unless we get her back, we're in deep *bleep*!"  Lina winced at Kollina and Mazolina's language.  Since she could tell that they were very displeased at the moment, she let it slide.  Angelina spoke up.

            "What about Gourry-san?  We still haven't done what we set out to do."  Calming down, Kollina stood up and faced Lina.  "Xellos and Mazolina can take care of this.  I don't think Zelas will mind, since if Crystal's true power is unleashed, there is a good chance that she will also be killed by Crystal.  I'll come with you and Gourry to Barbados.  I know that as a precaution, Dolphin puts a magical barrier around her fortress.  This will seal my magic from L-sama, so I won't be of much use.  Besides, I'm pretty confident that you two can handle it.  Dolphin is the weakest Mazoku Lord after Gaav, and he's already dead.  Okay?  Let's go our separate ways tonight.  Only Dolphin's minions can teleport into the castle, any other outsiders must travel to the edge of the Dead Sea and make their way past her creatures to her castle at the bottom."  Lina, Mazolina, Gourry, and Xellos nodded.  They broke up into two groups as directed, said their farewells and set off.  Kollina and co. went North towards Barbados, and Mazolina + Xellos went West towards the mountains surrounding the Dead Sea.

A/N:  Did you like it?  From now on, I'm going to tell about Mazolina and Xellos' adventures.  Afterwards, I might make a separate story for Lina, Gourry, and Kollina's adventures, too.  By now you should have figured out that I made Crystal's parents Dynast and Dolphin.  I think it fits because Crystal has blue hair and an uncanny liking for water spells from Dolphin.  Crystal also has very powerful spells, including ice-based ones.  Personally, I prefer Dynast +Sherra coupling, I don't know about Dolphin . . . *Shrugs* Oh well.  Please Review!


	5. Five Meetings and Greetings

A/N:  I just finished rereading my last chapter and I realized that I contradict what I say earlier a lot.  I'm also not very good at describing.  *Sigh*  Anywayz . . . This chapter takes place in Dolphin's palace.  I hope you like it!  Please review!

Five - Meetings and Greetings

***Crystal's POV***

            Just a few seconds after we phased from the group, we appeared in a VERY Large Palace.  From what I could see, the walls, ceiling and floor were packed limestone coated heavily with marble.  To my far left and right side, I saw two staircases.  They had a light blue tint to them and the banisters seemed to be made of mother-of-pearl.  Directly in front of me, below a large walkway where the two staircases linked, were two large, brass doors.  Behind me, were a set of double-doors twice as large as the ones in front of me.  On either side of the doors were large, gold-framed windows.  It showed fish, water, coral, and basically the fact that we were underwater.  I suddenly snapped out of my wonderment for my surroundings when Krowser cleared his throat, sending an echo throughout the empty room.  I looked up at him.

            Krowser had turned back into his male form and had taken off his cloak, revealing a suit of black and blue.  Krowser bent down to my height and as he smiled, he held out his hand.  "Would you like to see your mother, rest up, or eat first?"  Jumping up and down in excitement, I quickly replied, "Mommy!  I want to see Mommy!"  Chuckling at my enthusiasm, Krowser stood up, but was holding on to my hand.  Krowser led me through the doors between the stairs.  I looked quickly around before we went through the doors, and was disappointed when I didn't find what I was looking for.  Looking up at Krowser, I inquired, "Where did Kruiser-san go?  Didn't he come with us?"  While continuing to walk, Krowser smiled and replied, "Kruiser has some business to attend to.  He needs to report to his master among other things.  After he's finished, he may come back here with his master."  I nodded and we walked on in silence.

            About 15 minutes later (The whole palace is VERY big), we arrived at another set of doors.  These doors had beautifully engraved drawings and were trimmed with gold, however.  Krowser opened the doors, and gestured for me to go in first.  After he followed me in, he shut the doors behind him.  I gasped at what I saw.  Along the pale-blue marble walls were several beautiful intricate scroll drawings and writings.  Directly across the room from me, on top of a large platform, was a throne chair.  Blue drapes hung around the wall just behind the chair.  What surprised me the most, however, was the person in the chair.  Holding onto a long staff with a deep blue gem on top, was the exact same person I had seen in my dream many nights ago.  The only difference was, she had on a flowing blue gown with semi-transparent long-sleeves, a gold necklace with a blue pearl in the center, matching earrings, a diamond-embedded silver tiara . . . and she was in chibi-form.

            Glowing with happiness, the two-foot tall lady rushed from the chair and tackle/hugged me.  "Cece darling!  You've come home!  I missed you so much!  It seems like it was eons ago that I last saw you!"  Krowser sweatdropped, but smiled.  "Lady Dolphin, Crystal died in the war 1000 years ago.  This is merely her reincarnation."  I could only stare in shock as the one called Dolphin stepped back and looked at me from head-to-toe.  She still had a smile on her face when she squealed, "But she looks EXACTLY like her!  Maybe a bit younger, but it's still my own little Cece.  Welcome home, darling!"

            Still in shock, I stuttered," Y-y-you-you're my mother?  I don't remember much about her, but I don't think she'd act like you."  Patting my head, Krowser chuckled.  "Of course you don't.  You see, when your mother in the other world crossed over here, she merged with Lady Dolphin here.  But I assure you, Dolphin-sama is most definitely your very own mother."  Dolphin squealed in delight again.  As she grabbed both my hands, she whirled me around the room.  "You'll stay forever and ever, right?  You won't leave me again, right?  It gets so lonely here without a playmate!  We'll have soo much fun down here!"  Nervously, I nodded.  After a few minutes Dolphin stopped as I started to tilt back and forth with swirly-eyes.  She had twirled me too much and I was very dizzy.

            Once I recovered, Dolphin asked me, "What do you want to do now?"  After thinking a moment, I asked, "Would it be too much trouble if I could get a tour of the place?  If I'm going to stay here for a while, I should learn my way around, right?"  Dolphin nodded and took my wrist.  "Sure thing, Cece-chan.  You're absolutely right.  Krowser, go wake everybody up and set up the events.  Tell them that we have a special guest coming to stay with us, FOREVER.  Come on, Cece-chan, it'll be more interesting once everyone else is awake.  Let's go eat first."  I only had time to nod before Dolphin pulled me through a door to the left of the throne.  I had just enough time to see Krowser smile, shake his head, and teleport away.

            The first thing that I noticed when I arrived in the dining room, was a long buffet table with chairs lining up around it all.  Of course, it helped that nothing else was in the room.  Dolphin laughed when she saw my eyes sparkle with greed.  With a gentle push, Dolphin led me to the table.  "Come now, come now.  Don't be a stranger.  Eat up, eat up.  If you wish it so, I shall have more food on the way."  As I rushed to pile food onto my plate, I shook my head and said, "Oh no.  This will do just fine, I'm sure."  I finished piling food and was seated with my utensils.  "Ikatakimasu! (Is that how you spell it?)"  With that, I gobbled up the food, in a similar manner to Lina.  Dolphin chuckled again and joined me.

            When we both finished eating, we simultaneously sat back and patted our stomachs.  Opening one eye, Dolphin softly inquired, "So, Cece.  You just came from the other world, right?  Do you know any fishie songs?"  Opening my eyes also, I sat up and replied, "Hmm . . . Oh!  I know one!  It's from a commercial.  Want to hear it?"  Cocking her head Dolphin asked, "What's a co-comer-commercial?"  I thought a moment before answering, "It's a kind of advertisement."  Dolphin shrugged and squealed once more. "Of course I want to hear it.  I love fishies!"  I hesitated.  'If Dolphin /liked/ fishies – erm fishes, she might not like this song.  Then again, she /is/ a mazoku, so why not?'  I started singing, "Goldfish.  The snack, that smiles back. . . *Dolphin squeals happily* . . . until you bite their heads off."  Dolphin stops and looks at me.  She repeats, "Bite?  Heads off?  Fishies?"  I slowly nodded.  "NOOO!!!  You ate my little friends!  How cruel!"  Dolphin suddenly started bawling.

            Startled, I quickly ran around the table to Dolphin and patted her back.  "Wait, wait.  The fishies weren't really eaten, well, okay they were. *Dolphin cries louder*  But they were never alive to begin with.  They're just crackers shaped like goldfish.  They're hollow, too.  I know, I've eaten them before." Dolphin stops crying and looks up at me.  "Really?"  I smile and nod.  After that, Dolphin calmed down considerably.  She asked me if I knew any other songs, but I replied that I couldn't remember anymore off the top of my head.  We were chatting about some of the differences between my world and hers when the doors opened once more.  In the doorway was Krowser, panting a bit, but still orderly.  Bowing his head slightly, he informed, "Lady Dolphin, Mistress Crystal, I have awaken the others and they are on stand by.  Are you ready to go?"  Smiling, Dolphin nodded and stood up.  I followed her lead.  When we got to the doorway, Dolphin stopped.  She looked left and right and frowned.  Suddenly, she put her fingers to her mouth and whistled.

            From around the corner came a large blue blur.  When it stopped in front of us, I could see exactly what it was; a pair of large sea horses (bigger than Crystal or Dolphin) pulling a blue gold-trimmed carriage (the kind with an open top).  Krowser seemed unsurprised by this as he stepped next to the carriage door.  He helped Dolphin into the carriage, and then helped me.  Afterwards, he closed the door and took his seat as the driver.  With a crack of his whip, and a "go" order to the sea horses, we were on our way.  As we passed each animal, Dolphin would point to them and talk about them; what their jobs were, what their personalities are like, etc.  I saw many animals that lived on Earth, and told Dolphin so.  We exchanged words of what our worlds thought of certain animals, and were surprised to find that they were very similar, if not the same.

            For instance, take the great white shark.  Dolphin had positioned them to be guards that circle the castle, ensuring that any intruders do not pass.  This seemed perfect to me because in my world, these sharks were known as "the swimmer's nightmare," because on occasion, they were known to eat humans.  Dolphin and I found this quite interesting.  About two hours later, we were almost finished with the inside castle tour.  Among other things, I was shown the bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, lounge, game room, and a few meeting rooms.  In the beginning, I had tried to count how many rooms there were, but I lost count at 200.  I didn't even explore the whole thing yet, too!  Finally, Dolphin told me that we should watch the javelin event.  Not knowing whether or not it was safe, I figured that if Dolphin and Krowser were with me, I'd be alright.  So I accepted with a smile and small shrug.

            Somewhere in the middle of the castle, we came to two large doors once more.  I could hear loud cheering and jeering from inside.  I started to get a bit nervous, but Krowser opened the doors nonetheless.  I was amazed at what I saw.  There was a rectangular field below me and large stands circling around it.  The place reminded me of a football stadium game that was packed.  When we entered, everyone stopped whatever they were doing to look at us.  With a small poof, Dolphin turned into an adult, a very beautiful lady, and waved to everyone.  Suddenly, the crowds burst into cheers and Krowser drove us to a box seat high above the stadium.  Oh, did I forget to mention?  The inhabitants of the "crowds" were actually mermaids, mermen, and merpets (fishes of different size, shapes, and shades).  After we sat down, we didn't have to wait long before the event began.

            I soon discovered that the javelin event was very similar to the sport that crusaders would take part in, in medieval Europe.  On opposite ends of the field, two mermen entered on sea horses.  One was black, the other was blue.  They both had a javelin on the waistline railing side that was separating them.  They charged and met in the middle.  As the blue mermen passed the black one, his javelin rammed into the other mermen's armor, and knocked him from his steed.  Blue was victorious and the crowds roared with applause and praise.  After the crowd died down, two other sets repeated the event.

            When the whole event was over, Dolphin, Krowser, and I made our way to the door.  Unfortunately, before we could get there, we were surrounded by spectators.  They reminded me of reporters when one of them came up to my face and squealed.  "So this is the infamous Crystal?  She's so kawaii!!!  Miss Crystal, can I have your autograph?"  I sweat dropped.  If I'm going to live here, why would she want my autograph?  Krowser saw the drowsiness and confusion in my eyes, so he bellowed, "Silence! *Room goes deadly silent*  Mistress Crystal has had a very tiring day.  If any further meetings are to be appointed or taken place, it will be after she has had a good night's rest.  Now separate and let us pass!"  The spectators immediately parted to make a pathway for us to get past them.  Krowser nodded and we went up to the bedrooms.

            Krowser stopped at the end of a hallway.  There was a large set of doors in front and slightly smaller doors to our left and right.  Krowser pointed to the doors ahead of us and informed me that this was Lady Dolphin's chamber.  He gestured to the left door and said that this was his.  Thus, he stated that the remaining door on the right was to be my bedchamber.  He opened the door for me and I gasped in surprise.  As with the rest of the castle, the main color was blue, but of different shades.  There was a closet, a vanity mirror and dresser, a king-sized four-poster bed, a desk, and two bookcases. There was also a picture of a school of fish and a wave-based rug.  From behind me, Krowser asked, "Do you like it?"  With glee, I raced to feel the bed, it was as soft as a pile of goose feathers, and as smooth as silk.  "Need you ask?  I love it!  Thank you!"  Dolphin smiled as she tucked me in.  "Well, then have a good rest.  Sweet dreams, my little Cece."  As I drifted off to sleep, I murmured, "Good night . . . Mommy."

***With Xellos and Mazolina at that exact moment***

            Xellos and Mazolina were now traveling up a mountain that was blocking the Dead (or was it Death) Sea from land view.  With a groan, Mazolina asked Xellos, "Why can't we teleport there again?  If not to the actual headquarters then at least to the shore of Dead Sea?"  Xellos sighed and answered, "For the hundredth time, we can't teleport to the headquarters OR the shore because Krowser put a seal on all of our powers.  They'll only come back when we arrive at the shore anyway."  They arrived at a wide ledge and decided to rest a bit.  Mazolina whined, "I'm HUNGRY.  XELLY-CHAN!  Feeeeeeeeedddddddddd mmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-"  Mazolina was interrupted when Xellos put his lips onto hers.  After about 15 seconds, he released his hold.  Mazolina crossed her arms and puffed angrily.  In his usual happy expression, Xellos asked, "Better?"  Mazolina blushed slightly but shook her head.  "NO, but this might . . ."

            Mazolina then took hold of Xellos' head and kissed him passionately, tongue and all.  Xellos returned the kiss as he put his arms around her.  Since monsters don't need to breath air, they finally stopped an hour later.  They would have continued it, had Xellos not received a loud warning from his master.  "XELLOS!!!  Stop playing around!  I don't mind if you have to go to Dolphin's palace, but don't stop working just to do THAT!  Now get off your lazy butt and GO!!"  Both Xellos and Mazolina cringed at Zelas' words, but Xellos nodded and got up.  Mazolina followed his lead and they started climbing again.

            Three hours later, they finally reached the shore.  Even they were disgusted at what they saw.  Floating on the water were scores of dead fish, blackened from the sun.  The water had a mysterious dark blue/dark red tint to it and a light fog was spread above it.  Clearing her throat, Mazolina asked, "Uh . . . How exactly are we supposed to go down there?"  Xellos answered, "Simple.  We cast a shield and Aqua Breathe.  Then we plummet to the bottom.  I've heard that only the first hundred feet is like this.  After that, it's dark but clear.  The fish and other animals are alive and even a bit overgrown.  Dolphin's palace resides about a total of 250 feet below the surface.  Well, shall we go?"  Mazolina nodded and they linked arms.  They both cast the spells, strengthening it more.  The couple started to descend into the sea.

            About an hour later, they finally caught sight of Dolphin's castle, resting on a packed dirt turf.  It was surrounded by a 20-yard wide bottomless "moat"/pit.  Circling the castle, above the "moat", were at least half a dozen Great White Sharks.  The castle seemed to be about two or three miles long and about a mile and a half wide.  The palace basically consisted of a rectangular house, with engraved columns in the front, and a large dome to top it off.  The whole thing was an off-white/pale blue color.  Where the dome and the rectangular part met, there was a large golden strip with markings on it.  As the floated closer to the palace, Xellos read the markings, "On the golden strip, it says 'Welcome to Lady Deep Sea Dolphin's Palace, The Home of the Insane Mazoku Lord.  Prepare to Meet Your Demise.'"

A/N:  Ah.  A cliffhanger.  If you want to read what happens to them, give me some reviews.  If you could take the time to, I'd appreciate any comments, including flames or encouragement, or suggestions that you want me to put in it, or maybe even questions that I should answer later on.  Since I now have school again, it might take awhile for me to get out the next chapter.  But please, feel free to review any time, preferably in the near future.  Like now? :P  Until I write again, Ja ne!


	6. Six A Battle of Wills

A/N:  Thanks to those of you who reviewed my story/ies thus far.  Special thanks to Rina Metallium for continually reviewing ^.^  I'm thinking of a separate Lina/Angelina/Gourry fic and another Kollina/Amelia/Zelgadis fic.  Please tell me what kind of story you want to read.  I write to please you fellow readers/writers.  If you tell me a plot, and I think I can do it, I'll write it in my spare time.  Please read and review!

Disclaimer:  I don't own Slayers.  I never have, I never will.  If I did, I wouldn't be writing stuff like this.

Six - A Battle of Wills

            Crystal was still sleeping peacefully when Mazolina and Xellos arrived.  In Dolphin's chamber, Krowser watched silently as Dolphin played with her fish blocks (like alphabet blocks but with fish instead of letters), once again in chibi-form.  Suddenly, Dolphin looked up in mild surprise.  In a grim smile, she turned to Krowser and ordered, "Go greet our new guests.  Shaq (Shark Guard) has just informed me of their arrival.  I shall arrive shortly."  Krowser bowed and teleported to the main gate.  He was not surprised by the scene before him.

            Facing him were Xellos and Mazolina in an air bubble.  Facing /them/ with their backs turned to Krowser were the two largest shark guards.  Krowser whistled and the sharks immediately departed.  He snapped his fingers and the air bubble vanished.  Krowser chuckled to himself as he motioned for them to follow him into the palace.  They glanced at each other before reluctantly following him.  Once they were all inside, Krowser closed the doors with a wave of his hands.  After doing so, he turned to speak to the two visitors.

            "Hello again, Xellos and Mazolina.  For what reason do we owe the great honor of your visit? (I'm not sure if I got it right, but you know what I mean, yes?)"

            Ignoring his politeness, Mazolina sneered.  "You know very well why we're here – to get back Crystal.  By the way, what were you planning to do by taking away our air bubble like that?"

            Krowser laughed out loud.  "You haven't realized it yet?  The air inside and around the perimeter of this palace is special.  Although it is still water, it also has the characteristics of regular air, allowing any creature or being to breathe here.  Also, Aqua Breathes are human spells designed to allow the user to breathe underwater.  Considering you two are definitely not novice mazoku, are you telling me that you never realized that Mazoku don't breathe at all, let alone underwater?  Another thing, you didn't have to go through the water, you could have just teleported into the castle, you know."

            Suddenly realizing their faults, they both blushed.  Then Mazolina abruptly glared at Xellos.  "What?!  You said that Kruiser stripped us of our powers and /that's/ why we couldn't teleport.  Why I outta . . ."

            Xellos put up his hands in defense as he said, "All to enjoy the journey here, ne?"  Mazolina pounded Xellos squarely in the head.  Xellos grinned happily.  Before Mazolina could whack him again for being too happy, they were interrupted by Dolphin racing down the railing.  When she reached the end, Dolphin flew in the air . . . and landed in a bear-hug on Xellos.  "Xelly-chan!  You came to visit me!  Yay!   I have another playmate!  We're going to have so much fun!"  As Dolphin jumped off to take a better look at her two guests, Xellos quietly said, "We aren't here to play.  This is strictly for business.  Give us back Crystal and we'll leave you in peace."

            Considering Xellos apparently knew Dolphin pretty well, he should have known that those were the wrong words to say to her.  She immediately bunched up her hands and started getting teary-eyed.  "Xelly meanie butt!  Xelly no want to play with me!  Dolphin fix this.  You *points at Mazolina* play with me too.  Crystal stay here too.  Crystal is mine, now and forever.  She was mine before you even met her."

            Annoyed by her antics, Mazolina crossed her arms and looked down on Dolphin.  "And if we refuse?"

            Dolphin glared angrily at her.  "I feed you lotsa Zelphilian wine and then I change you."  Two waterchairs popped up underneath them, forcing them to sit down.  From out of nowhere, five crates of wine appeared next to Dolphin.  After quickly tying the two guests down, Dolphin and Krowser proceeded to fill them with wine.  They were helpless to do anything but continually swallow.  About two and a half crates later, Mazolina and Xellos were full-on drunk.  Smiling, Dolphin stepped back and snapped her fingers.  Immediately the two chairs disappeared, but then Xellos and Mazolina became super deformed like Dolphin.  The wine didn't make them dizzy, but it made them follow Dolphin's orders without a fight.

            First, Dolphin made them chase her in a game of tag.  She ran up the left staircase and down the right.  Xellos and Mazolina chased after her with their arms outstretched.  Dolphin happily laughed thinking that they couldn't catch her.  Suddenly, they used their demonic speed to catch her off guard and tag her.  Dolphin appeared to be mad at this and changed the game.  They would now play two games of checkers.  Dolphin won the first one with Mazolina, but Xellos won the second one.  This made Dolphin angrier, but she changed the game again.  They decided to play crazy eight's.  Mazolina won this game.  Finally, Dolphin couldn't take losing anymore.

            "Let's fight!"  She jumped back as she changed Xellos and Mazolina back into adult-size.  By now, the wine had worn off so they also jumped back in a ready stance.  Mazolina threw her strongest Digger Volt but Krowser blocked it with an Air Valm.  Xellos cast a Zelas Brid and succeeded in knocking Dolphin back.  "How dare you try to use my onee-san's spell against me!  Take that!"  Dolphin threw a Dolph Zork, taking a chunk out of Xellos' right shoulder.  Xellos winced in pain.  Angered, Mazolina cast a Dragon Slave at them.  Krowser first counter-attacked with the shrinking spell that Crystal had used earlier, then Dolphin "punched" the Dragon Slave right back at the couple.  This had caught Mazolina and Xellos by surprise, and they got charred.  As the smoke was clearing, Dolphin laughed in triumph.  Mazolina suddenly lashed out with a sword-channeled original spell.  This caught Dolphin off guard and she became cut and charred.

            Dolphin was very angered at this point and cast a very strong Death Mist.  However, before it could reach them, a Balus Wall separated the two opposing sides and disintegrated the spell.  Mazolina and Xellos were too weak at the moment to have cast it, so they all turned to the staircase to see Crystal there, with her right arm outstretched.  She slowly walked down the steps and confronted Mazolina and Xellos.

            "Why are you here?"

            Mazolina smiled weakly.  "To get you back, of course.  These are evil people, you know."

            Crystal vigorously shook her head.  "No!  They were nice to me!  They treated me with respect.  You teased me and put me down all the time!  I don't want to go with you!  I want to stay here!"

            Krowser and Dolphin smirked in triumph.  If the child in question chose to stay, she would stay.  Crystal would hate them even more if they took her by force.  Xellos frowned at Mazolina.  Mazolina sighed.  "Then what about Angelina and Lina?  They were very nice to you, you know."

            Crystal murmured, "That true . . . Wait.  Who's Angelina?"  Mazolina replied, "The angel in Lina-san, of course."

            Crystal snapped out of her daze and said defiantly, "But then Lina's an angel!  She /has/ to be kind.  Dolphin and the others are mazoku, right?  They didn't have to be nice, but they were."  Mazolina leaned back, the kid had a point.

            Krowser spoke up.  "Of course, the reason why we respected you was because you are theoretically the heir to Lady Dolphin's position.  But you are currently Dolphin's priest until the day she dies."

            Crystal crossed her arms and smiled.  "See?  I even have a high position here.  Give me one good reason why I should even consider leaving with you guys."

            Mazolina growled. 'Impudent brat.  She shouldn't talk back like that.'  "We took care of you and taught you magic as soon as you got here."

            Dolphin scoffed.  "You mean that wimpy human magic?  If she had met us first, we could have taught her the best and strongest of the mazoku magic.  The fact that you met her first was pure luck.  She could have popped up anywhere, and we didn't know until later that she had arrived."

            Xellos finally spoke up.  He addressed Crystal, "Crystal, believe me, you will NOT want to stay here with them forever.  Did you ever figure out that Dolphin here turned insane long ago?  The fact that they were nice to you was probably because if they were mean or hurt their master's alleged daughter, then they would die instantly.  Trust me on this one, if you stay here, you will lose your sanity like your mother.  Do you honestly want to stay here, away from any kind of advanced civilization, without other people?"

            Crystal looked down in thought.  'No people?  Going insane?  I definitely don't want that.  But those guys were mean to me!  Then again, they did teach me magic and feed me and took care of me while I was here . . . Wait a minute.  The heir to Dolphin's position?  Dolphin's a mazoku lord . . . so then I would become a mazoku lord when she dies?!  That's way too much pressure!  Alright.  I've decided."  Crystal looked up and smirked.

            "Fine.  I'll go with you.  Being a mazoku lord is way too much pressure for a five-year-old girl like me.  I'll come on one condition.  You have to teach me how to use and enhance my mazoku abilities.  Given the current circumstances, I think I am mostly correct in saying that it'll be a long time before I go back to my world again, if at all.  So do you agree?"

            Mazolina and Xellos smiled.  They had finally convinced her.  They had to admit though, for a toddler, she was really smart.  They'd have to make a mental note to treat her with more respect afterwards.  Mazolina nodded and held out her hand.  "Alright.  We will whole-heartily comply with your wishes.  Let's go meet up with the others."  Crystal took a step forward to take hold of her hand, but was stopped by Dolphin getting in front of her.

            "Just wait one stinkin' minute."  Since she clearly knew that she had lost Crystal for good, she didn't bother with the manners.  "What makes you think that you can just barge in here, take away my guest, and leave without me interfering?"

            In his usual happy voice, Xellos held up a finger and winked.  "Well, to be technical, Krowser here /invited/ us inside.  All we did was follow him in."

            A stress mark simultaneously appeared on Dolphin and Krowser's head.  They both shouted, "That's not the point!"

            Xellos pouted and muttered, "Well, you're the one who asked."

            Mazolina laughed lightly before saying, "Okay then.  How do you plan to stop us?  We can teleport out of here in a flash, remember?"

            Dolphin grumbled darkly before maniacally smirking and her eyes suddenly bulged so that they looked bloodshot.  However, instead of the blood veins in her eyes being red, they were a bright blue.  She looked ten levels beyond a mad scientist.  Her hair went flying up, along with the cape she had on.  Then her eyes rolled back and everyone felt a power surge through the room.  Mazolina and Xellos stood in ready mode once more, expecting an attack.  But Dolphin poofed into midair and vanished.  She had run away!  But why all that to just run?  They soon discovered why.

            A stampede of animals or fish came rushing at Mazolina and Xellos at full speed.  There had to be at least two hundred of them in the group including Dugongs, Narwhals, Sea Lampreys, Stingrays, Piranha, Wels Catfishes, Electric Eels, Atlantic Needlefish, and that's just to name a few.  Xellos took no time to use his demonic speed to rush over to Crystal, grab her hand, say "Let's go!" to Mazolina, and teleport above the Demonic Sea.  Mazolina followed a second later.  Xellos, Mazolina, and Crystal glanced at each other in turn.  They slowly floated in the direction of Barbados.  "Maybe we should have dealt with Krowser before we left.  Unlike Dolphin, he can still come after us . . .  Oh well.  We'll worry about it when the time comes," Xellos muttered to himself before striking up a conversation with Crystal.

A/N: So . . . Did you like it?  I'm thinking of stopping this story here . . . If you don't have any little things that you want me to make the current three do, I'll continue on in my next story, the one with Lina and Gourry.  Kollina will be taken out very quickly since she isn't that important for that couple.  E-mail me your ideas and I'll seriously consider them.  My e-mail is [secret_agentz2@yahoo.com][1]  Suggestions and questions go to my Inbox.  Comments and Criticism go to the review box.  Please review!  Until next time!

   [1]: mailto:secret_agentz2@yahoo.com



	7. Seven Family Reunion

A/N: Again, thank you for reviews.  I changed my mind – I'm going to combine the Lina/Gourry fic with this one.  But first I'm going to do a little update with what Lina and Gourry had been up to while Mazolina and Xellos were doing their thing.  Before I forget, I'd like to say that Kollina departed a short while before this chapter started.  She said that she felt something bad happening back at the castle, and went to check it out.  Lina trusted her with whatever it could be and allowed her to go.  Well, I hope you enjoy it.  If you like it, Please Review!

**Seven – Family ****Reunion******

            Lina and Gourry were walking on the road to Barbados.  They were now on the outskirts of town.  The birds were chirping their morning song, the sun was shining, the sky was clear, there was barely a breeze – all in all a blissful scene.  Gourry decided to break that blissfulness with one of his normal questions.

            "Lina?"

            "Yeah, what?"

            "Where are we going?"

            *Lina does a major facefault"

            "For the millionth time, Gourry, we're going to Barbados.  Bar-ba-dos.  Geez, why did I ever get stuck with a brain-dead swordsman like you?"

            "Uh . . . I dunno."

            "That was a rhetorical question."

            "Lina, what's –"

            "Before you ask, it means it's a question that doesn't need an answer."

            "Oh, okay.  Then why'd you ask?"

            "Ugh.  Never mind."

            "Lina?  Where are we going again?"

            "I can't believe you!  I just told you 30 seconds ago.  Barbados – In Elmekia Empire."

            Gourry murmured to himself, "Bar. Barbados . . . That sounds so familiar. . ."

            Gourry was snapped out of his thoughts when they came up to a signpost.  It read, "Welcome to Barbados".  Gourry lightly pounded a fist into his left hand and declared, "Oh that's what it was!"

            Almost afraid of the answer, Lina timidly asked, "Wh-What is?"

            Gourry smiled at her as he pointed to the sign.  "Barbados is my hometown."  Lina face faulted again.

            She almost shouted, "What the heck took you so freakin' long to figure that out?!  We've been traveling to Barbados for more than two weeks now!"

            Gourry kept on his smile as he directed his finger at the lower-right hand corner of the sign.  From a distance, it looked like some blue scratch marks, but as Lina peered closer, she realized what it was.  In messy blue handwriting it read, "Gourry's Hometown".  Below it was a little picture of Gourry's head with a finger pointed towards the town.

            Lina's first thoughts upon seeing this were, 'He only remembered because he wrote down on the signpost that this was his hometown?!  Sheesh.  How dense can you get?'  Lina turned to Gourry and smiled.  "Well then, shall we go?  If your parents and friends are still there, I'd love to meet them."  Since these words were completely unheard of from Lina, we can only assume that Angelina had said that.  Gourry missed this and merely nodded.

            About fifteen minutes later, they were well into town.  Suddenly, a young man with messy green hair came running up to Gourry.  Between gasps, he managed to sputter out, "Master Gabriev, is that really you?  *The man looks up to see Gourry's face and smiles brightly*  It /is/ you!  You've finally returned! (Sound familiar?)"

            Gourry stares blankly and blinks a few times at the man.  Suddenly, his eyes brighten up and he exclaims, "Oh Zach!  How are you these days?"  As Zach and Gourry catch up, Lina sighs to herself.

            'Oi, Angelina, you there?'

            'Yes, Lina.  What is it?'

            'I'm tired of dealing with Gourry.  I need to rest.  Do you mind watching him by taking over while I sleep?  If you don't do anything too rash, I might even give you permission to spend more than a day with him through me.  Alright?'

            '*Angelina squeals* Of course, Lina-san!  Whatever you say!  Pleasant dreams!'

            Lina mutters to herself, 'Yeah, right," before closing her eyes while still standing.  When she opened her eyes again, she wasn't Lina anymore; it was Angelina.

            Zach finally notices Lina (I'll just call Angelina Lina when their talking in public) and smiles at her.  "Now who is this beautiful young lady?"

            Lina slightly blushes.  Gourry doesn't notice this and answers, "This is Lina.  I was hired to be her protector three years ago.  I'm still traveling with her."

            Looking up, Lina smiled and held out her hand.  Zach shook it as Lina said, "Good day, Zach.  My name is Lina, Lina Inverse.  Gourry here hired /himself/ three years ago.  I could have taken care of those bandits myself, but Gourry just barged into the battle and took care of them.  We've been traveling together ever since. (Angelina was trying her best to act like how Lina would so she can stay in control longer)"

            Zach had bugged his eyes out when Lina said her name.  But unlike some other people, he had the courtesy of not annoying Lina with her nicknames.  Instead, he answered, "Hi, nice to meet you.  I'm Zach Douglas, a merchant friend of Gourry's.  It's an honor to finally meet you, Miss Inverse."

            Lina smiled as she quickly said, "Please, call me Lina."  Zach nods and asks Lina to just call him Zach as well.

            Gourry spoke up again.  "Hey, how's my folks?  Are they doing alright?"

            Zach chuckles.  "Oh they're just fine.  A little worse since you took the Sword of Light, but they're still in prime condition, money-wise and health-wise.

            At the mention of Gourry's parents, Lina's eyes lit up.  She turned to Gourry as she said in her childlike voice, "Ne, Gourry.  Can we go see your parents now?  I want to see your home."

            Gourry smiled down at her as he answered, "Sure, sure.  We'll go.  Zach, do you want to come with us?"

            Zach politely shook his head.  "It's alright.  I need to get back to the shop anyway.  Come by for a visit sometime, okay?"

            Gourry nods and Zach goes into a store.  Gourry and Lina continue on the way to Gourry's home.  Without Gourry noticing it, Lina locked arms with him.  However, when they came to the gate of his house, she widened her eyes in shock.

            Situated directly ahead of them was . . . a five-story mansion!  It was mainly made up of red bricks on the outside, several windows, and a small roof over the doorstep.  The garden that was on both sides of the pathway included roses, chrysanthemums, dandelions, and several other types of beautiful flowers.  It was also very clean cut – not a single weed could be found.  Gourry went up to the door and rang the bell.  Quickly, Lina took her arm from Gourry's and put both of her hands modestly in front of her.  An old butler with gray hair and spectacles answered the door.  "Yes, who is it – Oh my.  Gourry-sama, is that really you?"  Gourry chuckles as he says, "Yes, Gamgee.  It is I."  The old butler happily smiled at this and opened the door completely to let them in.  Gourry nods at this and leads Gourry through a straight corridor to a large living room.

            On the opposite wall there was a fireplace.  A few feet from that was two lounge chairs facing each other.  Directly in front of them were three leather sofas arranged in a semi-circle with a table between them.  On the fireplace wall, there were about half a dozen portraits of different sets of men and women.  Lina immediately recognized the one directly above the fireplace to be of Rowdy Gabriev and the elf Mellyroon, but she didn't dare say a word about it without Lina's consent.

            Gourry gestured for Lina to sit down which she did.  Gourry sat next to her as the butler ran to and fro calling out, "Gourry-sama is back!  Gourry-sama is back!"  As if on cue, at least a dozen people came from the doors to the left and right of the room.  As far as Lina could tell, there were three middle-aged ladies, 8 young toddler/teenagers, a girl and boy about as old as her, and three middle-aged men.  Lina sweatdropped.  There were so many people, and the women were all well-endowed; almost as much as Naga, but not as showy.  If Lina were to wake up now, she would be blushing herself shy and feeling very bad about herself.  Gourry got up again as they all tackled him with hugs and kisses.

            When they let him go, they all gathered around.  The older people sat on the sofas while the kids sat Indian-style on the carpet.  When everybody was seated, that was when they finally noticed Lina.  One of the middle-aged women looked from Lina to Gourry and asked, "Gourry dear, would you please introduce us to your friend?"

            Gourry looked back and smiled, but before he could answer, Lina introduced herself.  "Good morning everyone.  My name is Lina Inverse, but you can call me Lina.  Gourry has been my protector for the last three years.  He's saved my life quite a few times."

            The room was deathly silent as they all stared at Lina.  After a few minutes, a young girl stood up and pointed at her with wide eyes and a quivering hand.  "Y-you're Lina Inverse?  /The/ Lina Inverse?! *Lina smiles and nods.  The girl runs up to her.*  Oh, Miss Inverse, I'm your number one fan!  I want to be just like you win I grow up!"  Lina smiles at this, but Gourry has on a worried face.  The girl quickly introduced everybody as she pointed to them.  "My name is Leya, I'm Gourry's sister.  That's Gourry's brothers Mark, Tony, and Zane.  That's his other sister Meg.  This is our Mom and Dad, Sally and Ralph. . ."  And she went on like that until she named everybody.  There were two aunts and uncles who each had a son and daughter, and three of the kids were just friends of the other kids.  Lina could only smile while the little girl excitedly introduced everybody.

            Suddenly, Zane, the boy Lina's age, stood straight up from leaning on one of the sofas.  "Hey, wait a minute.  Isn't Lina Inverse the name of the sorceress who helped out Rowdy so long ago?  She doesn't look nearly as old as Gramps!"  The others turned to Lina once more and a murmur of agreement could be heard from them.  Lina closed her eyes and put a finger to her chin.  To them, she looked like she was thinking, but she was really trying to consult Lina.

            'Lina-san.  Are you awake?'

            'Mmph.  I am now.  What is it?'

            'We're at Gourry's /mansion/ now and his family is asking if you were the sorceress who helped them grandfather a long time ago.  What should I say?'

            '*Sigh* If they know already, then there's no point in hiding it.  Just tell what needs to be told.  Good night'

            Angelina sighed.  Lina could be so abrupt sometimes.  Oh well.  "Yes, I am she.  I don't look old because I had to travel back in time to help him.  I was only 13 at the time, anyway."  Lina shrugged as if it happened to her every day."

            As she stared at Lina, Gourry's mother muttered, "You are our savior (not exactly in the Christian sense).  Without you, none of us could have ever been born.  In case you didn't know, Rowdy Gabriev married the elf Mellyroon when he was still young.  When Rowdy turned 60, he retired to Mipross Island, the place where they met.  We can't even begin to express our gratitude towards you.  But tell us, why have you come to us now?"

            Lina smiled, but frowned at the last question.  Not wanting to offend Gourry's family, she only answered, "Sore wa himitsu desu."  With a wave of her finger, she teleported away.  Startled, everyone stood up and looked around.  Gourry said, "Lina?  Lina, where are you?"  Inside his mind, Gourry could hear Lina's soft voice.

            'I'm on the roof, Gourry.  You can join me, but don't let your family follow.'

            Wondering how Lina could speak to him in his head, Gourry headed outside after saying, "I'm going to look outside.  She couldn't have gone too far."  The others nodded and split up to look for her around the house.

            Outside, Gourry climbed a tree and jumped lightly onto the roof.  A few yards away sat Lina with a wistful look in her eyes.  Gourry came up to her from behind.

A/N: Hehe.  If you want to know what happens, review!  Depending on how fast the story goes, I might or might not put Mazolina and Xellos in the next chapter.  Ta ta for now!

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	8. Eight Day of Arrival

A/N:  Thank you for reviews again.  *Sigh*  How come nobody new is reviewing my story?  Maybe I should change my summary.  Oh well, read and enjoy!  Please review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers, never have, never will.

Eight – The Day of Arrival

            "Can I sit down?" Gourry asked Lina on the rooftop.  Lina gave the briefest of nods but Gourry still caught it and sat down next to her.  Lina hugged her knees as she stared ahead of her.

            "Umm. . . Lina?  Why did you run off like that?" Gourry asked, a confused look on his face.

            "Because Lina can't stand interrogations," Angelina whispered.

            "Why are you talking in third person – oh I get it.  You're Angelina, huh?"

            Angelina nodded and looked wistfully ahead again.

            "Lina?  What's wrong?  Are you sick?"  Gourry asked as he compared temperatures.  "No, our temperatures are the same . . ."

            "It's nothing Gourry, don't worry.  I just really miss Crystal and Mazolina."

            "Why would really miss Crystal?  You just met her like two weeks ago, right?"

            Lina nodded, but gave a small smile.  "Mazolina is like an older sister to me and she always watches over me, like Kollina does.  I adore children of any age, but I've taken a great liking to Crystal.  It hurts to think that they may have gotten themselves killed, but you can't do a thing about it."

            Gourry looked down in silence.  He knew what she meant.  While he was away, he missed all of his family members.  Slowly, he put his arm around Lina to comfort her.  "Don't worry, I'm sure they're all just fine."  This apparently triggered something inside of her, and as she leaned in closer to Gourry, she started to cry ever so softly.

            The real Lina felt this, and immediately got ticked off.

            'ANGELINA!  What the heck do you think you're doing?  I NEVER cry, ESPECIALLY in front of Gourry, ESPECIALLY when there's nothing really to cry about!'

            'But Lina-san-'

            'No buts!  Step down, it's time I took over.'

            Suddenly, Angelina felt a powerful aura surge through her system and she smiled.

            'Alright, but I just want to say that Mazolina, Xellos, and Crystal are on their way here.'

            'Eh, really?  Okay, I'll make sure to welcome them.  Now go!'

            'Hai, Lina-san.'

            Lina stopped crying as she changed back.  She looked up at Gourry and smiled sweetly.  Gourry knew this smile and fearfully backed away, but not fast enough.  Lina sent a good punch straight into his stomach, making him fly back at least 10 feet.  "Ouch.  Lina, what was that for?"

            Lina smirked before she jumped down the roof (Angelina made sure she landed safely).  As she glided down, she answered, "For old times sake."

            After she landed, she was immediately glomped by the little kids.

            "Lina-sama, Lina-sama!  Can you teach me magic?"

            "No me first!"

            "No me!"

            They soon got off Lina and started a little dustball fight (you know big ball of dust, every so often you see a head or a leg or something).  With a smile, she whistled loudly, shocking the children to an abrupt stop.

            "If you want to learn magic from me, you need to follow three things first.  1.) I won't teach if you aren't polite.  2.) I won't teach if you fight each other unless I say so, and 3.) I won't teach you if you don't pay me 5 bronze pieces each."

            "EHHH?!?!"  Came the collective exclamation of the kids.

            With a smile, they recovered from their shock and ran inside, hoping to get the money from their parents or their own little banks.

            With a flip, Gourry landed beside Lina.  With a shake of his head, he said, "Now you're even making my family pay?"

            With a greedy smile, Lina nodded.  "Of course!  If I back down now, how will I ever keep my reputation among townsfolk?"

            "Ugh.  Never mind – I give up.  Anyways, what spells do you plan to teach them?  None of them know anything beyond a light spell and their parents disapprove very harmful spells."

            "Well, not to worry.  I don't even have any destructive spells on me.  I mainly cast recreational and inventive spells.  You know, like that fishing spell?"

            "Ah, okay."

            Just then, the eight kids came out with their hands full of little coins.  Lina bent down so that they could see eye-to-eye.  One of the boys stepped forward and held out his hands.  In them were exactly five bronze pieces.  With a smile, Lina took out a small bag and held it out so that they could all deposit their money.  As each one approached the bag, she counted the coins first before allowing them to put it in.

            When that was done, Lina stood up and addressed them all.  By now, the adults were watching from the patio at the front door.  She told them to all go to the backyard, since the front isn't any place to be practicing magic.  They all followed Lina, who was led by Gourry, to the back yard.

            At her gesture, the kids sat down in two horizontal line in front of Lina.  Putting her hands on her hips, she stated, "Alright, let's get this started.  First, a little magic check-up.  Who knows who L-sama is?"  All the hands immediately shot up.  Lina pointed at a girl in the back row to answer.  She stood up and plainly said, "L-sama is short for the Lord of Nightmares.  She is considered the Mother of all Things and resides in the Sea of Chaos."  The girl sat back down and the guys looked at her like she was a snobby know-it-all.

            Lina ignored this and clapped.  "Very good.  I see you've been memorizing some lines."  The girl nodded and Lina continued.  "Okay, now then, who knows the only two known spells to call power from Her?"  Nobody raised their hands, instead they looked at each other questioningly.

            "Oh well.  I didn't expect you to know that one.  The answer was the Giga Slave and the Ragna Blade.  I won't be teaching you those, but I'll be teaching you a somewhat distant branch off of that kind of magic.  It isn't destructive, but it can be quite useful."

            Lina gestured for them to stand up.  She first taught them the chant, and then the movements and how to channel the power.  For some of them, it only took half an hour.  But for some other very slow learners, it took two and a half.  But finally, everybody was ready.

            Lina distributed back the 5 coins to all of the students, and told them to try to melt it all into one piece.  (Yup, it's the spell that Lina cast on the gems in the first or second episode)  The four girls and two boys did it perfectly the first time, but the other two boys had some problems.  The first boy said the wrong word at the end, and the pieces all shrank to the size of dimes.  Lina helped to correct him, and he did it perfectly the second time.  The last boy forgot the last half of the chant and the results were explosive.  The five coins burst like little firecrackers.  With a sigh, Lina cast a sort of recovery spell on the coins to turn them back to normal.  Lina repeated the real chant and the boy echoed her words.  But then he did the wrong movement of his hands and they all got engraved into the ground.  Lina could see that Roy, the boy in question, had a lot of magical potential, he was just REALLY clumsy and forgetful.  Lina undid the spell and made the coins float into her pocket.  "You're done for today.  Go inside or stay to the side."

            Lina turned from the group and sat herself at the base of an old elm tree.  From her cape, she took out a purple satin pillow and a crystal ball.  Lina then gestured for the students to gather around, which they readily did.  She said that she would do a little fortune telling for each of them, they just had to deposit their now enlarged coins in the bag beside her.  The know-it-all girl, Stacy, was the first to go.  After putting her coin in the bag, she sat in front of the crystal ball.

            Just to be comical, Lina added some mock sounds to go with it. "Ummmm….biii dummm….I see…It's clearing up…You will find something treasured that you lost, today.  Oh, and I give you high marks for your coin.  Next."

            "I see that you have high potential.  When the time comes, you will lead a very exciting life."

            "Someone you know will die on your fifteenth birthday.  Cherish your friends and family while you still can."

            "You will face many death-defying challenges throughout your life.  Do not be afraid to die, just live your life to its fullest."

            This went on for the rest of the group, and Lina even convinced the grown-ups to be given a free reading.  To Zane, she smiled and said, "When you meet the love of your life, you won't know it until it is almost too late.  Be observant."

            Since he was the last, Lina got up and packed her stuff again.  Turning to Gourry, she handed him her traveling case.  The case plummeted to the ground along with Gourry.

            "Geez, Lina.  What do you have in here, a ton of bricks?"

            "Hmm?  No, just some of the traveling things that I had to carry.  Be a dear, and take that to my room, won't you?  If you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to.  I'll be back at sundown (it was noontime)."  Before anyone could object.  Lina skipped towards the front gate, every so often fazing out only to reappear a few yards ahead.

            With a sigh, Gourry heaved the bag inside the house, up the stairs, through the guest bedroom opposite of his, and dropped the bag at the foot of the bed.  After recovering his breath and strength by resting on a chair, Gourry got up and decided to polish the sword that Lina gave him.

            Lina walked into town looking left and right.  She suddenly jumped when someone lightly tapped on her shoulder from behind.  She whirled around to come face-to-face with a smiling Kollina.

            "Shopping alone?  Mind if I join you?"  Recovering from her surprise, Lina smiled and shook her head.  As they continued to walk, Kollina asked, "Where's everybody else?"

            "Mazolina, Xellos, and Crystal are on their way here from Dolphin's place, and Gourry is back at his home.  What happened to you?  Why'd you run off like that?"

            Kollina's eye twitched before answering.  "Erm . . .  Well, to be truthful, I thought that Amelia might steal Zelgadis away from me if I was gone too long.  So I checked up on them.  My suspicions proved to be correct, but I changed that for good before I came back here."

            Lina stopped and looked at Kollina, "You mean THAT'S your reason for leaving us?!  Sheesh, how /ire/responsible."

            With a slight chuckle, Kollina said, "Well, I also wanted to give you and Gourry some alone time *Lina blushes* but considering how you look, I suppose nothing important happened.  Anyway, what are you shopping for?"

            Lina shrugged.  "Oh, I don't know.  I was just thinking of doing some window shopping.  Maybe get some more outfits, too.  Do you want to get anything in particular?  I have plenty of money."

            Kollina revealed many bags of gold coins in her cape. "As do I.  I'm not sure if they'll have anything I want, we'll just have to see, won't we?"  Kollina put down her cloak as Lina smirked and nodded.  They continued to catch up on the latest news with each other as they shopped.

            By sundown, they had purchased a longer sword, a set of stylish but sturdy cloaks with hoods, a set of satin pajamas, a two-piece swimsuit, and a beautifully carved staff – with a total of three of each thing. They were all set to match the person's personal preference.  Lina's pajamas, cloak, and swimsuit were white, off-white, and pink.  Mazolina's cloak, pajamas, and swimsuit were all blood red.  Kollina's things were also all black.  The three things were all trimmed with gold, too.  The staffs were identical and a wooden-brown color coated with orhalthcon (I don't think I spelled that right).  Magical symbols were carved in them, serving to be magic channelers through the gem on top.  The swords all had gold hilts with one large gem in the center between two smaller gems.  There were also beautifully carvings on the hilt.  Lina decided to go another round of shopping with Crystal after she arrived.  If the girl were to stay here, she would need a sufficient amount of different outfits.

            Lina and Kollina walked back to the mansion, with their shopping bags floating behind them.  When she rang the bell, Gourry answered.  With a smile, she pulled his head down to her and kissed him on the lips. Gourry was waving his arms and had his eyes open wide with surprise and he was tilting off balance.  Lina quickly let go of him and he fell, on Lina.  Kollina stepped aside as Lina kicked Gourry over her head into the pile of shopping bags.  Blushing furiously, Lina stomped upstairs mumbling something that sounded like, "What a miscreant.  She had a lot of nerve, pulling a stunt like that.  I have to make sure she pays . . ."  That was all that could be heard before Lina slammed her door shut.

            Turning to Gourry, Kollina sighed and helped him up.  With a wave of her hand she sent the bags up the stairs and through the door next to Lina's.  With a smile, Kollina walked in to see a bunch of stunned spectators.  As if reading their minds, she said, "Don't mind her.  She's just having one of her moments.  Has dinner ready yet?"

            A kindly lady, Gourry's mother, answered, "Oh, um, it will be done in about half an hour."  Kollina nodded at this.  "Alright.  First, I'd like to say 'thank you' for letting us stay here.  We will try our best not to impose.  If you'll excuse me now, I will try to convince Lina to come back down.  Oh, by the way, I'm known as Kollina."  Before they could object, Kollina floated up the staircase to Lina's room.  She knocked on the door.

            Muffled screams could be heard from within.  Since Lina was too preoccupied to hear her, Kollina just walked in.  She was not surprised by the sight before her.  (How do you think Lina could torture Angelina, without torturing herself?  I'll leave that to your imagination, but let's just say that Lina easily did it.)  With a sigh, Kollina stepped forward and cast a trance spell on Lina.  Lina immediately stopped clenching the pillow and sat on the bed with her eyes glazed over.  Kollina took the pillow from Lina's arms and sat down beside her.  She then carefully lifted the spell.

            Lina looked around her questioningly.  When she saw Kollina, she remembered what Angelina did and got mad again.  Kollina patted her shoulder and spoke softly to calm her.  "Come on now.  Don't be mad at her.  She's just trying to show her emotions.  Isn't that why you gave us separate bodies, so that we could express them?"  Lina growled at this, but Kollina continued.  "She knows how you feel, but she takes after you, she has an unavoidable impulse side that she can't rid herself of.  So please forgive her.  Maybe if you showed your own emotions sometimes, you wouldn't find it so, so, wrong."

            Lina looked down in thought.  Kollina added, "Oh, and dinner is almost ready.  If you eat quickly and not too much, you might be able to greet Mazolina and company when they arrive in about 30 minutes."  At the prospect of seeing them again, Lina smiled and rushed downstairs.  Kollina chuckled to herself and followed her.  Lina ate with all the politeness she could muster while eating quickly.  Even Gourry noticed her manners.  As soon as she finished, she mumbled a "Thank You" before grabbing her cloak and rushing out the door.  Kollina had finished before her and also excused herself before going after Lina.  As she caught up to her, Kollina mused out loud, "You know, I bet we'd get there much faster by teleporting.  Lina stopped in her tracks before slapping her forehead.  "Doh!  I knew that.  Okay, let's go."  They both concentrated on the auras of the group in question and teleported in front of them.

            Crystal jumped back in surprise when she saw Lina and Kollina materialize in front of her.  Lina smiled and waved at her.  "Hello, Cece-chan.  How was your trip?"

            Crystal shook off her surprise and excitedly answered, "It was great!  First Dolphin-san gave me a tour of her place, then Mazolina and Xellos fought for me.  I almost stayed with Dolphin until Xellos convinced me.  I really missed you Lina-san!"  Crystal then leaped up to give Lina a bear hug.  Lina caught her and hugged Crystal back.  Then after a few moments, put her down again.  Suddenly, Lina got an idea.  Bending down in front of Crystal, Lina smiled and said, "Hey, I have an idea.  How would you like to go out with us tonight?  You know, watch a play maybe, going to a night club, singing karaoke, what do you say?"

            Crystal looked down and kicked a small rock.  "But I feel like I would just be in your way.  I'm sure you'll have much more fun without me.  Besides, I think I'm too young to do that type of stuff."

            "Nonsense.  You act and talk more mature than some /adults/ that I know.  If I just changed your appearance a little, you may just be the star of the show!  Also, you're lots of fun to be around.  If you weren't, then why would we have gone through all that trouble to get you back from Dolphin?"

            Kollina stepped in.  "I don't mind her coming along at all, but are you sure she's not tired out from traveling all day?"

            Mazolina sneered.  "Her?  No way.  She woke up at sunrise and ran all over the place – we had to teleport to keep up with her.  Then she fell asleep at noon and woke up three or four hours ago.  Crystal will be just fine."

            Xellos nodded, confirming this.

            Turning back to Crystal, Lina asked again.  "So do you want to come with us?"

            "I guess . . ."

            "Alright then.  It's decided.  Let's go back to the house though, first.  I bought new clothes for you, Mazolina.  I didn't know what size or style Crystal would like, but I can improvise.  Come on."

            And so, Lina-tachi reunited walked back to the house.  When they got there, Mazolina greeted the family by saying, "Hey, How's it goin'?"  One of the kids looked from Lina, to Kollina to Mazolina and asked, "Are you triplets?"

            Glancing at each other, Lina answered, "You could say that.  We're all going out soon, so don't stay up for us."  Lina led the girls to her room while Gourry and Xellos waited in the hall.  They would have struck up a conversation, but Xellos didn't think that Gourry could keep up with him.  Lina first gave Mazolina some interesting, somewhat revealing shirt and skirt.  She then put on a similar attire as well as Kollina.  Lina then cast a spell on Crystal so that she was as tall as them and looked as old as them (generally speaking, not 1000 years old, just 18).  Afterwards, Lina gave her a less revealing top with a knee-high skirt with a slit on the side.  The skirts were all black but the shirts were different colors.  Mazolina had dark red, Crystal had cerulean blue, Kollina had black trimmed with gold, and Lina had an off-white shirt with a repeated fireball collar compliment of Mazolina.

            They stepped out in single file as the awestruck the two men.  Mazolina was first and she winked at them.  Then came Lina who had a smug smile on her face.  Next came Kollina with her arms crossed in front of her.  Finally, Crystal came out with both of her hands in front of her.  Gourry smiled and patted both Lina and Crystal on the head.  "You both look cute."  Lina twitched in annoyance because Gourry treated her like a kid, but let it go for Crystal's sake.  Xellos came up to Mazolina and Kollina and bowed.  "You two look absolutely stunning tonight."  They all smiled as the two men escorted the girls down to the door.

A/N:  Ah… That was too long.  I'm cutting it short here.  When I get the chance, I'll write the next chapter.  Crystal's first night on the town :P  If you like it, please review.  If you didn't, tell me what you didn't like, and I might change it if it's not too big.  Jan e!


	9. Nine The Night Club

A/N:  Sorry for the long wait!  (If you consider a week – long) I had school :P  Hmm . . . let's see . . . should I get them drunk?  Maybe, maybe not.  You'll just have to read and see.  Again, reviews are greatly appreciated.

Disclaimer:  I don't own Slayers, if I did, I wouldn't be just writing fanfics.

Nine – The Nightmare Club

            As they left the mansion behind them, the group paired up, at least, as much as they could.  Gourry and Angelina led the way, followed closely by Xellos and Mazolina.  Trailing slightly behind them were Crystal and Kollina, simply walking side-by-side.  As they walked, Angelina asked Gourry, "Ne, Gourry dear, which club are we going to go to?"

            Gourry shrugged.  "I don't know, where do you want to go?"

            Angelina smiled and shook her head.  "I don't know this city as well as you do.  However, I wouldn't mind going to a night club with good drinks, good service, and a large stage."

            Gourry looked up in thought for a minute before answering, "Hmmm . . . then how about 'the Nightmare Club'?  It's everything you said and it isn't as scary as one might think from the outside."

            Taking a quick glance behind her, she answered back, "Well, alright.  If you feel it's a safe place to take Crystal, then I trust your judgment.  Lead the way."

            "It's actually a combination between an inn and a club.  By day it's an inn, and by night it's a club.  That way, not only do you get good service, if some people want to stay in the rooms on the upper levels, they just have to pay an extra fee when they leave.  They also have a stage for entertainment and a dance floor.  Quite an ingenious plan actually.  (Is it me, or is Gourry starting to use bigger words? . . .)"

            As the group walked through the city, the girls received dumbfounded gawks from nearly every guy, and envious glares from the women with the guys.  Angelina and Mazolina just responded to this by holding onto their man tighter.  Kollina simply ignored them and walked on in silence.  Trying to follow her lead, Crystal did the same, though the looks still made her nervous.

            Crystal, in her 18-year-old form, had long flowing blue hair (a shade darker than before) that went down to her waist.  Her eyes were deep pools of sapphire, and even without the help of much make-up, her face and body held a certain allure – angelic, but tempting.  In other words, she was the most beautiful girl any of those guys would ever meet in even 10 lifetimes.  This also meant that she caught more attention than her other "girlfriends", but they didn't mind since they were already taken.  About fifteen minutes later, they stopped in front of a large building.  Not large in height only, but also in length.  The group looked up at it surprised.

            It looked to be about 150 feet across and three or four stories high.  The roof overhang was dark blue, matching the black exterior of the actual building.  On the outer rim stood in large flashing lights, the words, "The Nightmare Club".  Two dim lights hung on both sides of the entrance, where a thickset man guarded the entrance, allowing only certain people in.  There was a long line of people waiting to be let in, and they had just arrived to see the man turn away a potential customer.

            In wonderment, Crystal asked Gourry, "Ano, Gourry-san?  What do you need to get in?"

            With a secret smile, Gourry casually said, "Oh, you usually need a hundred gold pieces as entry and the man has to approve of you before letting you in."

            Mazolina huffed.  "100 gold pieces?!  Just to get in some stinkin' club?  That's a total rip-off!  Why I outta . . ."  Mazolina moved forward to give the man a piece of her mind when Gourry held up his arm in front of her, stopping Mazolina in her tracks.

            Gourry grinned and said, "Don't worry, Mazolina.  This is the finest club in all of Elmekia!  They have to keep the entry fee high in order to keep out the troublemakers and little vandals.  Let me handle this, and we'll get in just fine."

            Not surprised in any way by this, Kollina whispered to Mazolina, "You cheapskate.  You have piles of money back at Lina's home, not to mention the dimension pocketful in your cape.  One hundred measly gold pieces is nothing.  Now stop trying to cause trouble and let's go."

            The others nodded and followed Gourry up to the man.  The man looked up at Gourry and squinted his eyes to see him properly.  Soon, he recognized him and stood up with a smile.

            "Why if it isn't Gourry-san!  It's been oh, at least five years since I've last seen you! Welcome back!"  As the man shakes hands with Gourry, he notices the girls and bows.  "Oh please forgive my manners.  You four girls are breathtakingly beautiful *Girls blush* and have my grandest approval.  I presume that is why you are here, correct?"

            Gourry smiled and nodded.  The man stepped out of the way to let them pass.  As the girls walked past the next people in line, the people growled.  But then Angelina winked at the guys in the front of the line and smiled innocently.  Mazolina also smiled and flicked back her hair charmingly.  Seeing where this was going, Crystal winked and blew a light kiss to the closest guy.  Kollina just smiled smugly.  The guys also helped by giving the girls a charming smile, and the first ten people in line thought they would faint from love-at-first-sight, and some actually did, along with some mass drooling.  Leaving the man to take care of the random lovesick teens, the group walked in.  Crystal was surprised by what she found.

            On the other side of the room was a well lit stage with silk curtains and very nice lighting.  On the right side of the room, was the bartender's pub surrounded by a counter and several red leather stools.  Scattered around the remaining sides, along with the section in front of the pub, were at least a dozen or two tables with a various amount of chairs at each one.  Directly in front of the stage was a 50'x50' dance square.  Currently, an all-boy rock band was playing a fast song on stage while many pairs were dancing on the square.

            After being acknowledged by a lady at the front desk, they were escorted to a large table in the corner, where they could talk in slight privacy.  They ordered a few drinks and Kollina started a conversation that some might consider an interrogation.

            "So Crystal, even though we've traveled at least two weeks together now, I've realized, as I'm sure the others have to, that we don't know much about you.  Care to tell us about yourself?"

            The others nodded and waited for her to answer.  With a sigh, Crystal started.  "Well, I'm not sure where to start, but I'll give it my best.  My full name is Crystal Calli Cascata.  That's why I'm known as Cece – It's my initials.  Let's see . . . I was born a very gifted child, which was publicly discovered during preschool.  After the first few days, they decided that I was too smart to need preschool, so I was sent straight to first grade.  There, I took a sort of entrance exam to test how much I knew, and I got 100%, surprising my superiors.  They decided to let me take the exit exams for each grade until I didn't get a perfect score.  Well, I ended up easily skipping 10 grades.  So now, I'm a 10th grader, but I'm technically only supposed to be in preschool." (She had been rambling until now, and she had just stopped to take a breath, and she was talking so fast that the others didn't have any time to interject questions)

            Gourry held up a hand, signaling her to stop.  "Wait, what's a grade?"

            Crystal looked up in surprise.  "Hmm?  Oh that's right, you guys aren't familiar with my world's terms.  Well, a grade is like . . . a level.  Yeah, it shows your level of education.  If you pass at the end of a year, you go on to the next one, if you fail, you have to retake your current level until you pass.  There are 12 "mandatory" levels.  Then, if you want, you can take an extra four years to further your education, and then another few years to train for a certain occupation that you want to do.  Does that make sense?"

            Gourry was about to ask what "mandatory" was, but let it slide, believing that it wasn't important enough to get hit for.  Seeing that nobody else had any questions, Crystal continued.  "Now where was I?  Oh yes.  From what I heard from my sister, my dad was a famous lawyer and my mother was a lead singer.  We lived in a large house, though not as big as Gourry's, along with our small staff of servants and pets.  I owned a golden retriever and five exotic fish.  My sister owned a Persian cat, and the family owned a Great Dane as a guard dog.  We lived together in basic peace and harmony, with the occasional sibling rivalry or little arguments.  One day, my father left on an important business trip in Paris, but he never came back.  After making sure that we would be all right on our own, she too left, in order to discover what became of him.  That's all I can think of off the top of my head.  You can ask me questions if you want to."

            After a short thinking silence, Xellos asked, "What do you like, or did you like, to do in your spare time?"

            "Hmm . . . Well, I'm a terribly huge fan of Slayers, the show I saw you guys on, and most of my spare time is spent doing something related to it.  Sometimes, I play the video games, or I watch the shows on T.V., video, and or DVD.  Or, I read the manga books or surf online  *Crystal shrugs*  That's pretty much it."

            In pure curiosity, Lina asked, "What's a TV?  And what do you mean by 'surf online'?"

            Crystal chuckled lightly before answering.  "Well, I guess in my world, a T.V. is like a magical crystal ball here, but it's in the shape of a cube instead of a sphere.  I surf online by going on the Internet.  It's a fast mode of finding out information or communicating with other people who are also online.  'Surfing online' just means looking around and finding out more info.  Does that make sense?"

            They nodded and looked down to see if there were any other questions that they wanted to ask.  Since there were none, Lina changed the subject.  "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot.  You never did tell us what happened after you left us before.  Care to share?"

            Crystal nodded and started rambling again.  She told them the play-by-play, including the food, the tour, the rooms, Dolphin and her minions, and the fight between the two groups of monsters.  Mazolina and Xellos filled them in for the time between when they arrived and when they met up with Crystal again.  When they had finally finished talking, it was close to 8:30 P.M.  They had arrived at 6:15 P.M.  Angelina, Gourry, Kollina, and somewhat Mazolina and Xellos, sweatdropped at Crystal's prolonged retelling.

            Crystal looked around, a bit mystified.  "What?"

            Mazolina sighed and shook her head.  "Nothing, don't worry about it.  We've been here awhile already, what do you say we all head out to the dance floor?  Come on, it'll be fun."

            Smiling wanly, Crystal shook her head.  "It's alright.  I'll just stay here with Kollina.  You, Xellos, Gourry, and Lina go ahead and dance together."

            The others agreed to this offhandedly, but Kollina jolted upwards a bit.  After the two couples left, she asked Crystal, "How did you know I wouldn't be joining them?"

            Crystal smiled again and winked.  "Because you didn't seem the type to dance, especially without your boyfriend."

            Kollina looked up at the stage, and suddenly asked Crystal, "Hey, do you want to try doing upstage singing?  I'm sure you'll do fine, your mother was a lead singer right?  You probably inherited her voice."

            Crystal slightly frowned.  "I don't know . . . I've never sung in public before.  Sure, I sing along with the singers on T.V. but I don't know if I'm any good."

            Kollina chuckled to herself.  "Don't worry about that.  The people here aren't here to judge, just some entertainment.  If you like, I'll even be in charge of the background music."

            Crystal sighed.  "Oh, all right.  But I don't know any songs from here, is it alright if I choose a song from my world?  But then, you won't know what to play."

            Kollina shook her head and smiled as she pulled Crystal up.  "No worries about that – I'll just read your mind and have a magical instrument play to the tune in your mind.  And of course you can pick a song from your world, I wouldn't have it any other way.  Now come on."

            Crystal grudgingly followed Kollina to the host/manager (the person who decides who will be on stage and when).  The man looked at his schedule and nodded that Crystal could go onstage next.  It was at that moment when the band finished playing.  The crowd cheered and clapped as the band moved off the stage.  Then the man took hold of the microphone and announced, "Alright, folks.  Next we have a Crystal Cascata, a newcomer to Elmekia, singing a song titled, 'Dreams Come True' (SES).  Here she is!"

            Crystal came onstage and with a deep breath, her confidence washed in and stayed with her for the rest of the night.  After giving Kollina a slight nod to start, Crystal soon picked up her cue and started singing.  Her singing matched her beauty.  Her tone was refined, confident, firm, but still very angelic.  She matched the song word for word from memory, and the audience could only sit (they had returned to their tables) and listen in silence.  When she finished, the music stopped, she opened her eyes and smiled gently.  There was a small moment of silence before the room erupted with applause and cheers.  Crystal blushed, bowed, and walked offstage, towards Kollina.

            Kollina patted her shoulder and said, "Good job, Crystal.  You blew them away.  I knew you could do it.  Come on, let's go back to the table now."  Crystal nodded and they made their way to the table.  By now, the next band had gotten set up and had already begun playing while parts of the crowd once again began to dance.

            Back at the table, everybody congratulated her.  Angelina said, "Wow, Cece-chan.  I never imagined that you could sing that well."  Gourry also added, "You were fantastic."

            Just then, their refills came.  Gourry and Lina had champagne, while Xellos and Mazolina had a martini.  Kollina had a bottle of Zelphilian wine, and Crystal had ordered red wine.  Staring down at her glass, Crystal murmured aloud, but Kollina still heard her.  "I'm not sure if I should drink this.  Even in this body, I'm still underage."

            Kollina patted Crystal lightly on the shoulder before saying, "Don't worry about a thing like that.  I don't know about your world, but here, as long as you pay for any damages that you might make and you can handle however much alcohol you swallow, you can drink at any age.  Here, start with the small stuff.  Zelphilian wine has a much lighter amount of alcohol in it, but after awhile, it can still make you drunk."

            Crystal shrugged and hesitantly drew a small glass of Zelphilian wine.  She didn't know if it was the alcohol or the actual flavoring, but she loved it immediately and quickly began draining the glass and starting on another one.  (Oh no . . . a five-year-old addicted to wine . . .)  When she guzzled down the third glass and was about to start on the fourth, Kollina grabbed Crystal's wrist, stopping her.

            "I think that's quite enough, Crystal."  By this time, Crystal's face was visibly a light tint of pink.  Not enough to fully cover her face, but just the right amount to tell that she was on the verge of being drunk.  Just then, however, a young man with blue hair and matching eyes came up to their table.  He held out his hand in front of Crystal and asked, "Would you like to dance?"

            Without even consenting Kollina, Crystal nodded and stood up.  He guided her to the dance floor.  It was now a slow song so they had to be somewhat near each other.

            As they danced, he whispered, "My name is Evan Gredowski, but call me Evan.  I heard you sing – you were great."

            Crystal smiled and blushed slightly.  "Thank you.  In case you didn't hear, my name is Crystal Cascata, and you can call me Crystal."

            Evan nodded and asked, "A beautiful name to go with a beautiful lady. *Crystal blushes again*  Hey, what are you doing later tonight?"

            Cocking her head to one side, Crystal replied, "Why?"

            As the band switched songs, Evan cupped her chin in his hand and deviously said, "'Cause I have a room upstairs.  Wanna see it?"

            Having seen many romance soap operas and read many books, Crystal knew what he was getting at – and she didn't like the looks of it.  Turning from him with a low growl, she said, "I'd rather not.  If you'll excuse me, I have to meet up with my friends again."

            As she started to walk away, Evan grabbed her wrist and pulled her body towards him so that her back lightly hit his chest.

            With a smirk, he softly growled, "You don't think I'm going to let you get away so easily do you?  I'll probably never meet another girl like you for as long as I live."

            Crystal backed away.  She hissed, "If you continue treating me like this, that won't be for very long."

            Across the room, Angelina picked up Crystal and Evan's conversation and stood up.  Looking towards them, she murmured, "We have to stop her.  If we don't, she really might kill him."

            The others, excluding Gourry, had also caught wind of the conversation.  With a laid back tone, Mazolina said, "Why bother?  Crystal can take care of herself just fine, and that **bleep** deserves it for what he tried to do."

            Kollina and Gourry nodded.  Xellos also agreed, but Mazolina still looked on, worried.  "I didn't plan for the spell to be permenant.  If she uses even one spell, it'll disappear in a poof and she'll be a kid again.  I don't want to do that to her in a public place.  Especially after everyone heard how great her singing was and are now taking special notice of her."

            Kollina caught on to what Angelina said and also stood up.  "You're right, it's not fair to her.  You stay here, I'll go warn her before she does something rash.  She's even a bit drunk right now, and that won't be good if she starts to fight."

            With that, Kollina quickly made a beeline towards Crystal.  She had just finished saying ". . for very long," when Kollina approached her from behind.  She tapped her on the shoulder and whispered in her ear, "Don't use your magic to harm him or do anything else tonight.  If you do, you'll return to your regular form."  Crystal turned to face Kollina and was a bit miffed.

            "Eh?!  Then what should I do?  I want to stay like this a bit longer, but he deserves to be killed, or at least hurt."

            "I know, have him meet you at the magical sporting arena that we passed on the way here, tomorrow.  That way, Angelina can make your body a bit more permenant and you can beat him up then.  Besides, it's getting late – we should leave soon."

            Crystal nodded and turned to Evan.  By now, everyone's eyes were on them.  Luckily, Kollina and Crystal's conversation had been telepathic, so nobody had heard it.  Crystal pointed to Evan and declared, "Alright, Evan.  If you really want to know my answer, meet me at the magical sporting arena off the main street.  Be there at 9:00 a.m. sharp tomorrow, or this is the last you'll ever see of me."  Without even waiting for an answer, Crystal teleported out and phased back in her room at Gourry's mansion.  With a smirk,  Kollina, Mazolina, and Xellos followed her.  Angelina took hold of Gourry's arm and also teleported.

            There was a murmur around the crowd as Evan smirked to himself.  "A sporting arena huh?  Alright, you got it."

A/N:  Yay!  That's the end of the chapter.  You'll have to wait for the next chapter to see the match.  Should I make Evan, be at least somewhat powerful, or just a total wimp?  Also, I'm sorry if some of my information is a bit off, since I don't have much experience in these situations.  I don't care if it's questions, comments, suggestions, or even FLAMES.  Just review if you enjoyed it and want to read more.


	10. Ten Battle of the Best

A/N:  Hello again and thank you for the reviews!  This chapter will be about Crystal's fight with Evan.  For more details read the chapter ^_^  In advance, I know some of my descriptions aren't very good, but please bare with me and don't criticize me about it (Maybe it's just me . . .)  Anywayz, Read, Savor, Enjoy!

Ten – Battle of the Best

            When Crystal arrived in her room, she yawned and sat on the bed, waiting for the others to follow her back.  She didn't have to wait long, for just a few seconds later, everyone else appeared in front of her.  Kollina sat on the bed beside her and asked, "So you're going to fight him in the arena?"

            Crystal slightly frowned before answering in a sarcastic tone, "Well, yeah.  I wouldn't have invited him if I wasn't, right?"

            Mazolina put her hands on her hips and glared at Crystal.  "You know that's not what she meant.  Anyways, do you want just us to watch you or do you want a large crowd?  We can fix it no problem, just say the word and we'll do it."

            Crystal grinned.  "Yeah, a big crowd, if you please.  Since I get the feeling that he's a pretty good fighter and that nearly the whole town knows it, it would be great if I could humiliate him by beating him tomorrow.  Oh, Kollina, do you mind acting as the referee?  Mazolina, if you like, you can be the announcer/commenter, too."

            They both nodded and said, "Sure."

            Angelina said, "What about Gourry and I?  What do you think we should do?"

            Crystal thought a moment before she replied, "Angelina, I think you should be in charge of healing and keeping any spells from going into the crowds or out of the stadium.  Gourry, you can act as head bodyguard, well, just guard to make sure that the wrong people don't get in or he tries to leave in the middle of the match.  Got it?"

            Everyone nodded so Crystal added, "Alright then.  If you don't mind, could you please all leave so I can get some sleep?  I have to be ready for tomorrow, you know."

            They all said their good nights and left.  While everybody else was asleep, Crystal stayed up in bed thinking of the perfect strategy to use against her opponent.  Around half past midnight, she was finally satisfied and slipped into a peaceful slumber.

            The next morning, Kollina, Mazolina, Angelina, and Gourry woke up and set out without Crystal so that they could bring in spectators.  This wasn't at all very hard considering that Gourry was well known in town and the people who had seen Crystal last night had told their friends about it who told /their/ friends to come.  By nine o'clock, the stadium was filled with anxious viewers and some were even watching from nearby roofs.  In the middle of the arena, to the side, was a narrow and tall tower for Mazolina to comment from.  Kollina would also watch from there, unless there was a problem down below.  Angelina stood by Gourry at the gate with an easy view of the arena, in case someone got terribly injured or a spell went wrong.

            At exactly 9 sharp, Kollina walked to the center of the field and held up her hands for silence.  The crowds suddenly went deathly silent as Kollina started to speak in a magically amplified voice.

            "Welcome, citizens of Barbados!  We are gathered here today, as you well know, to witness the battle between Evan Gredowski, current reigning Anything Goes Battle Arena Tournament in Elmekia, and Crystal Cascata, a newcomer to both Barbados and Elmekia with an amazingly promising skill.  Ladies and gentlemen, in the west side, we have Evan!  Evan, please come forward."  On cue, Evan walked into the arena from the opening on the left side of the stadium.  He raised his hands and smiled confidently at the crowd, who cheered in response.

            Once Evan stopped at the edge of the platform arena, Kollina continued.  "And in the east corner, we have Crystal!  Crystal, please come forward."

            The crowd waited in awed suspense as they waited for Crystal to appear.  As half a minute went by without any results, Kollina started to get worried.  Both telepathically and out loud, she called out, "Crystal Cascata, please report to the arena immediately.  If you are not on this arena in five minutes, you will be forced to forfeit this battle to Evan."

            Back in the mansion, Crystal woke up with a start at the sound of Kollina's voice saying something about forfeiting the match.  She glanced at the clock and saw that it was already 9 o'clock.  She jumped out of bed and with a snap of her fingers cleaned herself up, brushed her hair, brushed her teeth, washed her face, ironed her clothes, dressed appropriately, and assembled all of her belongings that she would need.  With a happy grin, Crystal teleported to the east side entrance.  Kollina was now counting down, one minute left.  With an air as if she could care less, Crystal strode casually onto the platform.  She winked and made a peace sign at the crowd and they erupted in cheers.

            When Crystal stopped at the edge of the arena, Kollina talked in her normal voice, both aloud and telepathically.  "You're late.  Crystal, where were you?  Do you realize that you almost forfeited this match without even beginning to fight?"

            Crystal looked over at Kollina and smiled.  She shrugged and answered, "No problem.  Don't worry about it.  I'm here aren't I?"

            Hearing this, Evan sneered.  "What happened?  Did you try to run out of town so that you wouldn't have to be humiliated by me?  Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."

            Giving him a sideways glare, Crystal quietly bit back, "I wasn't running away – I was just /fashionably/ late.  And I don't want you to go easy on me.  After all, I don't want to beat you up /too/ badly."

            Kollina cleared her throat and said in her magically amplified voice, "This will be an anything-goes fight.  No time limit, first fighter to knock out their opponent wins!  Any killing will result in an automatic forfeit.  All right, let the battle begin.  Ready?  Start!"

            At Kollina's 'Ready', both fighters stood in their own stance.  As they circled each other, Evan smirked and said, "Ladies first."

            Crystal returned the smirk and with a nod and a "Can't kill, huh?  You're very lucky, but I'll find my way around it," Crystal started.

            She stopped and put one hand in front of her face, as if praying.  She closed her eyes and a dozen perfect duplicate images of her circled Evan.  The figures, including her, quickly flew around him in a semi-blurry circle (Imagine a Pokemon's Double Team attack).  Evan looked left and right at the seemingly small army of opponents that he suddenly found himself against.

            "Ooh, it looks like the challenger has started the match with a little original spell," Mazolina commented.  "How will Battle Champion Evan deal with this?"

            Half to himself, Evan smirked and muttered, "Like this.  DISFANG!"  His shadow immediately shot out and accurately bit all of the images' ankles.  The images disappeared, revealing Crystal in a bent knee position.  She was clasping her bitten ankle and had to try hard not to scream out in pain.  In a slightly ragged voice, she whispered, "Lighting."  Her shadow disappeared and so did most of the pain.  "You'll pay for that.  'To start off…'  Burst Rondo!"  Several small fireballs shot out of her open palm and pummeled Evan as he tried to cover his face for protection.  Unfortunately for Crystal, it appeared that her training in non-water based magic was practically fruitless.  The normally scorching spell merely scathed him slightly and gave him a few minor burns.  Everybody in the whole arena sweatdropped.  A random wind blew a single tumbleweed through one opening and out the other.

            Crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow, Evan asked, "Was that supposed to hurt?"

            Crystal smirked and said, "Just try your luck."

            At the entrance, Gourry asked Angelina, "Hey, is it Crystal's 'time of the month'?"  Lina bonked him on the head and hissed, "No you idiot!  She's only five-years-old.  Besides, any magic other than water-based ones, aren't exactly her specialty.  In fact, they're so bad, you might as well call them her weakness.  *Sigh* I hope she knows what she's doing."

            Meanwhile, Evan casually brushed off a few ashes before going into a spell-casting stance.  Before long, he shouted out, "Fireball!"

            Before she could get burned, Crystal countered with, "Balus Wall!"  The shield immediately went up and blocked the offensive spell.

            While Crystal had been casting the wall, she was also casting a silent Recovery spell.  When the Fireball had been completely deflected, Crystal stood up, full of energy.  With a bemused grin, Crystal declared, "This will get us nowhere.  Let's see how well you can spar."

            Evan raised both of his eyebrows and stepped back in surprise.  "I can't.  I didn't bring a sword."  With a wave of her hand, Angelina summoned Evan's sword and let it levitate to him.  With a smile, Kollina said, "There you go, Evan.  Let the battle continue."

            Evan shrugged.  He was pretty certain that a beautiful girl who could sing very well and hung out in a night club, couldn't possibly even hold up a sword properly.  Boy was he in for it.  During their spare time, Gourry had taught her how to use a sword expertly, as Xellos did the same with staffs.  Crystal easily mastered these, and if at maximum power, could most likely defeat an easy-going Gourry in a sword fight and or a distracted Xellos.

            As Evan unsheathed his sword, Crystal quickly mumbled a spell before doing the same.  Everyone, except Crystal, couldn't believe what they saw.  In Crystal's hands was what appeared to be the Sword of Light!

            "What's this?  The Sword of Light was taken from this world long ago.  How could Crystal have gotten her hands on it?"  Mazolina commented.  Kollina whispered something in her ear and she squinted to look closer at the sword.  "Oh, I see.  A very clever contraption on Crystal's part."

            Evan didn't hear the last sentence Mazolina had said, and he actually believed that Crystal's sword was the Legendary Sword of Light.

            Again, Gourry leaned over at Angelina and asked, "Hey, how'd she get that?  I thought I gave it away to that pink guy. (^_^)"

            With a sigh, Angelina answered, "His name is Eurolugos, Gourry dear.  You should learn to call people by their respected names.  Anyways, you did give it away."  "Then how-"  "Because that is just an imitation sword.  Crystal combined a Lighting spell and an Icicle Lance to make her sword look like that.  Quite ingenious actually.  I suppose she's just trying to intimidate her opponent."

            Crystal charged at Evan at full force.  Evan frantically blocked it with his sword, fearing for his life, but he was still pushed back quite a ways.  Keeping his eyes on Crystal's, Evan thought a chant and suddenly yelled out, "Digger Bolt!"  Unfortunately, Crystal was taken by surprise and wasn't able to get away before the spell was sent through the linked swords and into her.  For someone who had charged first, and was as strong as Crystal, she had dropped her guard by a considerable amount.  You could literally see her skeleton for the brief seconds before she regained control and jumped away before she could take even more damage.  She stood up and this time visibly cast a Recovery spell.  But just to be safe, Crystal also cast a Windy Shield at the same time.  Her cape and hair went flying up over her head as she prepared for her next attack.

            Crystal swung her sword once in the direction of her opponent.  When she did, several small icicles went flying from the sword, towards Evan.  They were extremely powerful, each feeling like an Icicle Lance by themselves.  They nicked Evan nearly anywhere that he didn't block, mainly his face.  However, a stray ice arrow cut him on his left cheek.  When the sudden ice barrage stopped, Crystal threw her sword to the side and cast a Visfarank spell.

            She slowly started to walk towards Evan as she audibly cracked her knuckles.  With a sly smile, Crystal said.  "Playtime's over.  Switching to hand-to-hand combat.  Get ready to get pummeled."

            Using her demonic speed, she surprised Evan and punched him in the stomach.  He immediately keeled over, clutching his stomach in pain.  But Crystal's eyes had turned ice cold, and it showed in her actions.  She relentlessly beat him up, making special care not to hit hard enough to kill him.  Finally, after about five minutes of pounding him, Crystal stopped and turned away.  Evan had blood trailing from a bloody nose, lip, and several cuts.  Yet, he was still barely conscious.  Crystal took care of this by blasting him in the back of the head with a variation of an ocean spray.  Without even waiting to see if her opponent was conscious (which he wasn't), she walked away silently.

            "  And Crystal is the winner!"  Mazolina announced.  As if on cue, the crowd erupted in cheers once more.  As she was walking out, Crystal heard this and smiled.  Without looking back, she casually waved her hand at the crowds.  When she passed Angelina, she whispered, "When everyone is gone, go heal Evan.  I don't want him to die.  I want him to live in humiliation and shame.

A/N: Um . . . I hope the ending wasn't too brutal.  I just wanted to show how much Crystal changed and how much she dislike Evan.  Reviews are always appreciated.  Oh, and if you've just read both of my stories, please review them separately.  If you enjoyed my story/chapter thus far, please review.  It'll make me very happy.  The next chapter will probably come out next week, so just be patient and find some time to review.  Thank you, have a nice day (or good night)!


	11. Eleven An Ending and a Beginning

A/N:  Hello again!  Sorry for the wait!  You know what?  During the week, I always read the newest Slayers fanfics that are posted and some old ones too.  I realized that my view of certain things don't seem quite right.  Mainly, Dolphin isn't insane enough and Luna isn't scary enough (first fic).  Thus, if I don't receive any new topic requests, I plan to revise my stories completely and repost it after I finish this story.  I don't think this story will last much longer too.  Maybe another chapter or two.  I have some ideas on what could happen after this, but only a few little events isn't enough to write a whole story.  Even one-shots.  Anywayz, enough rambling from me.  Enjoy the fic!

Disclaimer:  I doN'T own Slayers! *_*

Eleven – The Ending and A Beginning

            After the match, Lina-tachi met up at the "Dreamland Inn" (Nightmare Club by night, Dreamland Inn by day ^_^).  By the time Gourry, Xellos, Mazolina, Kollina, and Angelina got there, Crystal was already in a corner booth, quietly sipping a drink while staring off into space (Her adult form is still in effect).  As they joined her, she didn't even look at them.  With a sigh, Kollina softly said, "So what are you going to do now?"

            Crystal shrugged and nonchalantly replied, "I dunno.  I was thinking of going along with you, but I don't want to be a burden.  I've already overstayed my welcome.  I think I'm strong enough now to set out alone."

            Gourry vigorously shook his head and huffed, "No!  You're still a little girl. *faint stressmark of remembrance from Lina*   You shouldn't go out alone.  There are hundreds upon hundreds of bandits, trolls, monsters, and overall evil out there.  You could get very easily killed!  No!  I won't let you!"

            The group looked at Gourry in awe.  Never, in all of the years that they knew each other, had Gourry even said half as much as he had done just now – or as serious either.  Mazolina smirked.  "Oh?  So jellyfish-brains actually has some noodles in that thick skull of his after all," she remarked sarcastically.  "Feh.  I never would have guessed."

            At the mention of 'noodles' Gourry looked up with his eyes gleaming.  "Eh?!  Noodles? Where?"  Gourry looked left and right as if he might see a giant bowl of noodles a few yards away.  The group groaned and shook their heads in disappointment.

            "I suppose it was just a one-timer thing.  I thought we were all cured of his stupidity, but no; it's back and fresher than ever," Xellos noted coolly.

            The group sighed simultaneously before turning back to Crystal.  "But you know, he's right.  We've all seen how powerful you can be, but still, setting out alone is a very dangerous and reckless thing to do," Mazolina lectured.

            Putting on an annoyed frown, Crystal crossed her arms and glared.  "So?  Lina did it too."

            "Yes, but she was 12 when she started.  Why, you're only 5 years old!  At least a seven years difference," Angelina interjected.

            Crystal huffed.  This wasn't going exactly where she wanted it to.  She wanted to see this world and travel around, defeating anyone who got in her way.  Quietly, she asked, "Fine then.  If that's the case, then can I travel around with you?  At least until you think I'm old enough?"

            Angelina, Kollina, and Mazolina exchanged glances.  Then Kollina shrugged and said, "It's alright with us.  But we should tell you, we're planning to go our separate ways soon.  So who do you want to go with?  You could go with Angelina and most likely Gourry back to her palace in Zelphilia . . ."

            ". . . Where you can have almost any material item that is buyable here.  Not to mention food and money too!" Angelina added.

            Kollina continued.  ". . . or you can go with Xellos and most likely Mazolina to Wolf Pack Island . . ."

            Mazolina interrupted, ". . . You can learn black magic and special abilities under the eye of Mazoku Lord, Zelas Metallium, Beastmaster."

            Xellos furrowed his brows.  "I'm not sure how Zelas-sama will deal with two unidentified guests, but I suppose it'll be okay since you both are powerful mazoku."

            Unperturbed, Kollina finished with, ". . . or you can come travel with me to lower the bandit and evil population."

            As Crystal sat back to think about her choices, Gourry pointed out in his normal-dopey expression, "Wouldn't she automatically choose to go with Kollina?  I mean, didn't she just say that she wanted to travel around?  Staying at a castle or and island is very sedentary, right?  That's the exact opposite of what she wants to do."

            Everyone stared at Gourry with even more shock than before.  Now Gourry was using logic to answer a question, and it makes sense?  Also, such large vocabulary?  Something was definitely amiss, and they'd figure out just what it was . . .

            Suddenly, a light bulb flashed in Crystal's head (No, not literally).  She smiled secretly and happily outward.  She nodded her head.  "I agree with Gourry-san.  I want to go with Kollina.  But perhaps, maybe when I'm better trained, I can go visit those other two places where you said you'd be."

            When the others nodded in agreement, Mazolina stood up and banged her fist on the table.  "Alright!  We'll make plans to go immediately.  Come on, I can't wait to go to Wolf Pack Island."

            Suddenly, Angelina jolted up, remembering something.  "Wait a minute.  We came here to make Gourry smarter.  We haven't even looked into the matter yet!  How can we just up and leave?"

            Mazolina waved it off.  "Oh fine.  If it really means that much to you, than both you and Gourry can stay here as long as you like.  As for us, if we settle down for too long, not only will we be bored, the bandit population will increase a lot.  Right Kollina?"

            Kollina solemnly nodded her head.  "Well, if that's all, I suggest we eat and then go pack."

            Everyone nodded in agreement (they do that a lot don't they?), ordered food, ate, paid the bill, left a tip, and left for Gourry's mansion.  Along the way, several people waved and greeted Gourry, and many congratulated Crystal on her victory.  They simply returned the waves and smiles.

            By sundown that night, everyone was packed and ready to go.  Mazolina and Xellos went first.  Mazolina hugged all of the people within their close ring of friends, while Xellos shook hands with Gourry but simply waved to the rest.  With a final 'Goodbye', Mazolina and Xellos teleported away to Wolf Pack Island.  Since they were going to travel by foot, Kollina decided to leave the next morning.  After dinner, they all went to sleep, energizing for the next day.  But in the midst of the night, one lone figure was awake.  That figure was none other than Crystal.

            She sat up in bed, deep in thought about her near future plans.  Though she liked Kollina well enough, Crystal feared that she would be too serious and strict of a companion.  No fun whatsoever.  She admired Lina through and through.  For her ulterior motive for bandit killing – to give back the money through buying food at restaurants, her grim seriousness and coolness when fighting the worst of opponents, and above all, her fiery temper and power.  All three combined made her the ultimate hero in her eyes.  But now, they were all separated and those things that she admired had intensified so greatly that it was starting to get annoying.  She meant no offense to the people who had helped her when she first arrived, but she needed to get away from them all.  She needed freedom to do whatever she wanted.

            Back in her world, she was either teased or ignored by her fellow classmates and neighborhood kids.  Not only because she was abnormally smart, but because of how she looked.  Five-year-old blue-haired 10th graders were very, very, rare.  When she constantly got answers right in class, the teacher praised her while the students glared at her.  Crystal had pretended not to notice, but it still hurt deep inside.  That was one of the reasons why she loved watching Lina Inverse – If anyone even annoyed her the tiniest bit, they'd get fireballed to a crisp.  Now, Crystal had magic of her own, and she knew how to use it well.  Well, besides non-water based attacks, but the was beside the point.

            Crystal knew she might eventually go back to her world, so she might as well have made the best of it.  After all, if she, in time, died in the Slayers world, there would ultimately be no harm done.  She blended in with the background and thus so ignored back at home.  Her parents were here, and her sister probably didn't even know she was gone yet.  So Crystal summed all this with one determined thought – I'll run away and start my own legend.  No one will ever forget me again.  (She seems to have forgotten that she already made herself known as the Demon Child, but that name hasn't spread out everywhere quite yet)  Crystal quietly climbed out of bed, called her luggage to her, made sure she had some money and food, and set out to face the world.

            By the time Kollina had woken up, Crystal was already five miles away (she travels fast).  Kollina searched for her aura, found it, and smirked.  Inside, Kollina really believed that Crystal could take care of herself.  But just in case, she would use her crystal ball to watch over her, and come help when needed.  At first, Angelina and Gourry were very worried about Crystal, but Kollina reassured them.

            When the sun had visibly risen, Crystal stopped to take a break.  She was VERY tired, considering that she had been walking for the past eight or so hours.  (A patient kid, with a LOT of endurance ^_^)  She took out a small loaf of bread and nibbled on it as she looked around.  She was deep in a forest now, but the treetops were shallow, so a lot of sun rays still shone towards the ground.  Suddenly, she heard a bush rustling behind her.  Crystal whirled around and stood up, making sure to throw the bread back into her bag, before calling out, "Who's there?  Show yourself!"

            As she spoke a score of bandits appeared behind the foliage, showing that she was surrounded.  In her head, Crystal squealed with joy, "Yay!  My first group of bandits alone and it hasn't even been half a day yet!"

            The apparent bandit leader stepped forward and sneered.  "What's this?  I thought we'd hit a traveling merchant, but it's just a scrawny, little kid!  Hmph.  I don't have time to babysit."

            Crystal growled.  "I can take care of myself just fine."  Inside her mind, she thought, 'A kid?  Oh yeah, I forgot the special circumstances for the spell – I have to be within a mile's range of Angelina or it wears off.  Oh well.'

            A bandit amongst the crowd pointed at her and said, "Hey!  Boss, look at her shoulder guards!  They're diamonds!"

            The leader saw this and smirked.  "You're right.  Alright brat.  Hand over all your valuables before you get hurt."

            Crystal mumbled, "That's what you think."  In one swift movement, Crystal took out her sword (it shrunk along with her), swung it completely around, and froze every last bandits' legs.  The bandits struggled in vain to get out.  Crystal smirked and sheathed her sword.  In an overconfident voice, she said, "Ain't so little now, huh?  Now then.  This would be a good time to practice my spells."  Crystal rubbed her hands together and started to chuckle evilly.  The bandits were becoming more scared every second.

            "Okay, what first?  Ooh.  I know.  FIREBALL!"  A big blast came from her hands, but it quickly shrunk to about the size of a basketball.  There was a instantaneous sweatdrop from all the bandits and Crystal.

            One of the bandits decided to speak up.  "Ha!  For such a strong ice-user, your fireball's the absolute worst!  Dumb kid!"

            Crystal glared at the speaker.  "You're the dumb one.  Don't call me dumb!  I'm smarter than you'll ever be."

            "Yeah right!"

            A deep blue aura started to glow around Crystal.  A swift wind flew up around her in a perfect circle.  Her eyes turned ice-blue as she shouted, "I'm sick of this!  SPIRAL FREEZE!"

            Literally coming from within her body a thick strand of ice bolted upwards and suddenly split 20 ways enveloping every single bandit completely in ice.  When the spell was finished, Crystal's eyes turned to its normal cerulean shade, the wind vanished, and she looked around to speculate her work.

             She was vastly pleased.  "I never knew I could do that.  Hmm…It seems to have the desired effect.  Maybe I should use it against every bandit I come up against.  Now let's see.  First, treasure raiding!"  Crystal went up to the bandit leader and poked him in the side.  He easily fell over and the outer shell of ice cracked.  The bandit leader was stone cold and unconscious.  Shrugging, Crystal found a large bag of money on his side and put it in her bag.  She found a gem-engraved sword at his side as well, and took it out of its cover.  Using a spell that Angelina had taught her, she attempted to extract the gems.  Crystal was successful in extracting them, but as soon as they came out, they burst.  With a sigh, Crystal checked out all of the bandits in turn.  Once she finished getting what she needed, she decided to leave them be, as a remembrance of what she did.  So about two hours after she had first sat down to rest, Crystal was once again on her way.

            Thus, every time she encountered bandits, they would go just like her first experience, with a few variations.  And in this way, Crystal Cascata slowly became a bandit legend. A youngster who battled with ice instead of fire like Lina Inverse, but harsh all the same.  Since she couldn't use large, destructive spells like the Dragon Slave, she was a friend to all villagers.  The fact that she looked like an innocent child almost 24/7, helped this fact a lot.  Crystal also didn't need to eat as much, so she didn't put any restaurants out of business like Lina did.  In other words, she was an overall kinder hero than Lina ever was, but then again, she was still very young.

***In Barbados, at the Experimentation Guild Library***

            "Kollina, have you found anything yet?"

            "Sorry, Angelina, Nothing."

            Angelina sighed.  They had been at this for two whole months already.  They hadn't even started experimenting yet.  First they had to find a starter spell.

            "Are you sure you can't just whip up something?  You did cure Zelgadis before."

            Kollina shook her head from across the room.  Given their status, the head guy in the Guild allowed them to search the library without any interruptions.  "I'm afraid not.  I can only remove spells or curses that were magically cast in the first place.  The strange thing is, it appears that Gourry really is slightly smarter than the average guy, except he seems to have some form of selective amnesia."

            "Really?  No wonder.  I tried to tell him what I was yesterday and he had the nerve to ask me what an 'angel' was.  *Sigh*  Maybe we should try a different approach then, if that's the problem."

            They both closed their books and walked over to a table.  Kollina folded her hands and asked, "Alright, so what do you suggest?"

            Angelina thought a moment before answering, "I know!  How about some mind probing?  Look into his mind and see if we can figured out what triggered the memory loss way back in the past."

            "Brilliant.  Let's start right away.  Where's Gourry now?  And do you want to do it or should I?"

            "I believe he's back at the mansion, either playing with the kids or eating.  And I think I should do it, since he's my partner."

            Kollina nodded.  "Let's go then."

            Angelina magically put back all of the books and walked side-by-side with Kollina out the door.

            Soon, they arrived at the mansion and found Gourry sparring with his older brother.  It was clear that Gourry had the upper hand, but was going easy on his opponent for the sake of the crowd.  But upon seeing Angelina, Gourry let himself wide open as he greeted her.

            "Ah!"  Blade hit skin and Gourry went down, clutching his side.

            His brother threw away the sword and crouched down next to Gourry.

            "Hey Gourry!  Are you okay?  Sorry, I thought you were going to block it."

            "Don't worry about it, Zane.  I'll be fine.  It's just a scratch."

            Angelina quickly went up to Gourry and healed his wound.  Sure enough, he was fine and standing a moment later.

            "Hiya Lina.  What are you doing here?"

            Angelina hugged Gourry before replying, "Gourry-san we think we may have a lead on something.  Please come with me so we can try something out."

            "Uh… Whatever you say, Lina.  Zane, I'm going to go in now.  You've improved a lot over the years.  Keep it up.  I'll see you all later."

            With that, Gourry followed Angelina and Kollina to a large, secluded balcony on the roof level.

            Kollina materialized a chair and motioned for Gourry to sit down.  He did.  Angelina stood behind him.  Taking a deep breath, she started to massage Gourry's shoulders.  "Relax, Gourry dear.  Be at peace.  Clear your mind of any thoughts.  Re-laxxxx….."  With Angelina's soft voice and tender massaging, Gourry immediately relaxed completely.  Slowly, Angelina reached up and started to softly massage his temples.  After a few moments, she started to chant the spell.  As the spell took effect, she gasped when the spell sucked part of her astral form into Gourry's mind.  At that moment, both Gourry and Angelina fell unconscious.  Kollina caught Angelina before she touched the ground.  In Gourry's mind, Angelina was horrified at what she saw.

A/N:  La la la.  Yay!  A cliffhanger.  You'll have to wait until I post the next chapter to see what Angelina saw.  I'll give you a hint; It's a long forgotten memory in Gourry's past.  Anyways, I am now accepting any ideas that you might have for what you want me to write now.  You know, something along the lines of what happened in other places while certain events were taking place . . . or maybe a whole new different idea . . . like a Valentine's Day fic . . . or a birthday . . . well?  I'll be waiting!  If you liked my fic, please review!

Note:  If you just read both of my stories, please review them separately.  It'll only take two minutes max!  Reviews are always appreciated!


	12. Twelve A Painful Memory

A/N:  Sorrysorrysorrysorry I'm very sorry! ;P  I would have updated sooner, but I forgot almost all about this fic.  It didn't help that I also had writer's block.  I realize that I focused to much on Crystal, but when I write, I just imagine what is happening and don't really think of where its leading until I get there.  Anywayz, I hope you like this chapter.  Much apologies to Lina/Gourry Lina/Xellos Fans -__-  On with the story!

Twelve – A Painful Memory 

            When Angelina first appeared in Gourry's memory bank, everything had been peaceful.  But not for long.

*Flashback*

            A much younger version of Gourry, maybe at age 15 or 16, was practicing with a regular sword, with an old man in the background.  Gourry was being tested for improvement behind his mansion.  After a few strokes, the old man stopped him and told him to compete in the Swordsmanship Tournament that was to be held the following week.  He walked away and Gourry continued to train.

The "screen" flashed once and Angelina found herself watching Gourry battle someone much older than him in a ring.

The crowds were cheering loudly.  About one-fourth of the stadium was cheering for Gourry's oppenent, "Shlank".  The rest of the stadium was cheering for Gourry, their hometown favorite.  With a final swing of his blade, Gourry knocked the sword out of his opponent's hands and pointed the sword at Shlank's neck.  Gourry had won the whole tournament.  Gourry was given a large trophy and he held it up for all to see above a large podium.

The screen flashed again and the picture changed to Gourry in the middle of town, being flocked by girls.

Gourry walked up to a private training arena, ignoring the lovesick girls that were following him.  Angelina noted that they all seemed pretty and well-endowed.  Gourry took out the Sword of Light, and began to practice attacks with it.  First, he swung it a few times to try it out.  Then he swung it into the ground, creating a large crack from the sword to the wall approximately 50 yards away.  Gourry continued to use different techniques, making the girls fall more in love with him with every swing of his blade.  Finally, Gourry stopped and wiped his forehead.  He noticed the girls and smiled at them.  They swooned as his smile took their breath away.  Choosing to ignore this, he walked up to them.

"Hello girls.  What are you doing here?  Don't you know this is a private arena?"

The girls didn't reply, and just kept on staring up at him.  With a sigh, Gourry turned and walked away from them.  The girls were to much in a trance to notice that he was gone until he had already arrived back at home.

Once more, the screen switched, this time to a cafeteria at an academy.

Gourry was coolly drinking something for a bottle, taking breaks between each gulp.  He was now surrounded by a group of guys; his buddies.

A younger version of Zack asked him, "Hey Gourry.  Want to play Truth or Dare?"

Gourry looked away and took another gulp.  "That game is so not for people our age.  Why can't you think of a more sophisticated game?"

Another guy prodded him.  "Aw. Come on.  We'll just ask or demand sofi-whatever things okay?  Truth or Dare?"

Gourry gave in.  "Oh all right, Gary.  Truth."

Gary thought a moment before saying, "Are you interested in anybody?"

"Nope.  My turn.  Zack, you playing?  Truth or Dare?"

"Uh.  Truth."

"Hmm… I know!  Whose your best friend in the whole world?"

"You of course.  I skip my turn.  Gary you go."

"Okay.  Gourry, Truth or Dare?"

"Dare."

"All right!  Um…I dare you to…Kiss Zelda."

"The most popular girl in the whole school AND Zack's girlfriend?  No way.  I'll get hit for sure."

"I DOUBLE dare you.  Besides, she's not the most popular, just the prettiest.  Come on.  It's the rules of the game.  I won't mind."

"Oh fine.  I'll be back in a minute."

Gourry looked around and found Zelda just closing her locker.  He quickly walked over to her and said, "Hi Zelda."

Zelda stopped in her tracks.  To her, Gourry was the cutest hunk in the whole school.  She didn't think much of herself though.  She was just a petite punk and Gourry's friend's girlfriend.

"What do you want?"

"A kiss from the most beautiful girl in the entire school."

"So why are you talking to me?"

"Because you are."

Before she had a chance to react, Gourry slipped a hand underneath her, making her slant.  He took her hand, kissed it, and then kissed her on the lips.  Zelda wanted it to last longer, but Gourry broke it off quickly, straightened her back up, and left with a single wave.  Zelda looked on in the direction that Gourry had gone, completely taken with him.  Back at the table, Zack seethed jealously.  His girlfriend liked his best friend more than him!

Angelina was also mad at Gourry.  Kissing his best friend's girlfriend?  That was dishonorable, especially for Gourry.  The flashback continued on.

The newspaper reporter had happened to walk by as Gourry kissed Zelda.  The next day, a picture of it was posted on the Romance section of the paper.  By the end of that day, the whole school knew about it.  Gourry and Zelda were the immediate attention of every student in the entire school, separately.  Every day, Gourry would be mobbed with girls, and Zelda would be surrounded by guys.  Zelda liked the attention, Gourry didn't.  Whenever he could, he would ignore all of the girls and walk away from them, but they persevered.  Finally, Gourry decided to end this and walked up to Zelda one day, when they were both alone.

"Hey Zelda, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Hmm?  Gourry?  Sure.  What's up?"

"Well uh, I was wondering if you wanted to go see a play with me.  That way, I can protect you, and I won't get mobbed by girls."

"Sure.  Whatever."  Being the center of attention had really changed Zelda, but Gourry took no notice of it.

"Great!  Let's go see 'Romeo and Juliet'.  It's open on Saturday.  I'll pick you up at 7!  See you later!"

Once again, Gourry left before Zelda could object.

Angelina sighed.  This was getting boring.  All she had learned so far was that Gourry popular when he was younger and he went to see a romantic tragedy play with his best friend's girlfriend…wait what?  Okay, NOW it's getting interesting.  The screen stopped fast forwarding and showed Gourry and Zelda at the play.

The play was being presented at the stadium where Crystal had fought earlier.  Gourry was able to get box-seat tickets and the "date" went well.  Gourry dropped off Zelda at her home afterwards.  When they went back to school, Zelda immediately broke up with Zack to be with Gourry.  Not yet truly knowing trouble, Gourry agreed to go steady with Zelda.  With each sighting, Zack got more and more angry and jealous.  Finally, he snapped.

Gourry was driving Zelda back home one evening, in an open-top carriage.  Zack saw them chatting and laughing very closely, too close for comfort.  Zack was heading the opposite direction, and in a blind rage bade his horse to run into theirs.  Gourry saw him coming and tried to get out of the way by swerving.  He succeeded, but…in the process, an accident formed.  When his horse swerved to the right, it made the carriage run smack dab into Zack's horse.  This in turn, resulted in Zack being flung out of the cart, and into the fast moving merchant lane.  He didn't stand a chance.  On that day, Zack was trampled to death.  Afraid of the consequences, Gourry raced to Zelda's house, dropped her off.  Before he could run, Zelda asked him to come inside.  Gourry was a bit shaky, but he followed her into the house.

Zelda led him straight to her room to talk.  As he sat on the bed, Gourry repeatedly beat himself over the fact that he had killed his best friend.  Zelda tried to convince him that it wasn't his fault and that he only did it to save himself out of instinct, but to no avail.  Gourry wouldn't forgive himself no matter what anybody said.  At school, he was abnormally quiet and cold to everyone, including Zelda.  Days later, the paper reported Zack's death, but nobody would say why it had happened.  All that anybody knew, was simply that Zack had been trampled by merchants on a main road.  Gourry was as quiet as ever.  After a month had gone by in this manner, Zelda couldn't take it anymore.  She told Gourry to come to her house that night.  She said that she had something to tell him.  Gourry solemnly went.

Once he arrived, Zelda led him to her basement.  There, she explained her plan of action.

"Gourry?  Here's what I want to do: I want you to drink this potion and when you finish the whole bottle, you won't remember what happened with Zack at all, in fact, you'll forget him.  I can see that this is something that time won't make go away, but I think this is the next best thing.  You have been really out of it lately, and I don't think it's good for you, your health, or your reputation.  Can you do this for me?"

Gourry looked as if he was in a trance as he slowly nodded his head.  Zelda gave him the potion and he drained it to the very last drop.  His eyes popped wide open and steam came out of his ears.  With a resounding thud, he hit the ground.  Gourry was in a coma for a whole month.  When he revived however, he was happy, but he barely remembered anything that anyone ever told him.  He became a true dumb blonde.

That was where the flashbacks ended.  Angelina became conscious again, and as soon as she got up, she looked at Gourry's sleeping form sympathetically.  It's no wonder he was so dense.  He did it all to forget that incident.  Angelina sincerely hoped that her spell didn't make him remember, for his own sake.

A/N: Ah…twelfth chapter done.  Did you like it?  Yes, I know, sad isn't it?  But doesn't it just kind of work for Slayers?  A bad incident, a experimental potion gone awry, and a new problem as the result.  *Sigh*  Well, the next chapter I write will be the aftermath of Angelina's spell.  Tune in next time for "Aftermath of Flashbacks"!  Don't forget to review on your way out!  Ja ne! ^______________________________________^


	13. Thirteen Spell Repercussions

A/N:  Hello again!  I'm back to give you the next chapter of **The Crystal Child**.  Please enjoy!  Read and Review!

Thirteen – Spell Repercussions 

            As Angelina and Kollina watched him, Gourry started to stir.  Soon, he opened his eyes and looked at Angelina.  He had a confused look on his face that seemed more troubled than usual.

            "Lina?  I had the strangest dream.  I dreamt that you went into my mind and … whoops.  I forgot it."

            Kollina raised an eyebrow and Angelina smiled gently.  Softly, she murmured, "For once, that's a good thing.  I don't want you to remember it."

            "Huh?"

            "Oh nothing, Gourry dear.  Let's go down for dinner shall we?"

            Gourry's stomach automatically growled.  "Hehe.  Food?  Yeah, come on, let's go!"

            Gourry raced down the stairs and nearly tripped, but managed to get to the dining area in record time.  Angelina chuckled, but then turned to Kollina.  As they walked down slowly, Angelina told Kollina what had happened.  Afterwards, she didn't say a word, but just grimly looked on ahead.  Right before they reached the dining area (Angelina talks fast and there are a lot of stairs), Kollina quickly suggested looking for the person who made the potion, if she was still alive.  Angelina agreed, and they talked nothing more of it for the remainder of the evening.

            In the wee hours of the morning, before anyone had woken up, Kollina set off on her own to see what she could find out about the girl named Zelda.  Even though her first name was irregular, it didn't help much without the last name.  Thus, Kollina didn't find a single clue by the time she came back around noon.  Everyone had wondered where she had gone off to all morning, but she simply told them that she had taken a long tour of the city.  Gourry's family accepted this, but Angelina knew that that wasn't all Kollina had been doing.

            Kollina and Angelina met again at the deserted library of the Experimentation Guild.  They talked about the possible solutions based on the information that they now had.

            "How about we go around and ask everyone we see if they know Zelda?" Angelina questioned.

            Kollina shook her head.  "I already tried doing some of that this morning.  Not a single soul that I talked to had even heard of anyone named Zelda.  Besides, if we try that too much, Gourry might start to question us."

            "Doesn't he do that already?"

            "Not about this.  Anyway, I suggest looking in some sort of personal directory with everyone's information on it.  If that doesn't work, we can try asking the people in the Experiment division."

            "And if that doesn't work?"

            "Then I guess we'll have no choice other than to ask Gourry or his family."

            Angelina sighed.  She knew that they would only do that as a last resort because they knew how much it would hurt Gourry.  They got to work as soon as possible.

            Three days later, they came back to the library.  They used the library because nobody ever went there, so they could talk about anything in peace.  Kollina and Angelina were disgruntled, to say the least.  They had found the directory, but it was about 100 cabinets full of small folders.  Angelina cast a spell to search for the word "Zelda" on any of the tabs, but it came up empty.  Next, they tried the Experiment people.  They had split up, but they came back with the same results.  Whomever they spoke to immediately started ranting on and on about how their "perfected" experiments never worked and how they always blew up in their faces, yada yada yada bla bla bla…  That is why both Kollina and Angelina met with huge headaches and their stress levels were pushed to the brink of lashing out at everyone.  As they sat down, Angelina nonchalantly relieved both of them of their headaches.  She then sighed deeply.  She knew that she was only prolonging the inevitable - not telling Gourry the truth.  Angelina decided to get it over with the next day.

            Angelina woke up with tired eyes and a depressed attitude.  Thanks to her powers, her tired lines under her eyes disappeared, but she was still feeling down.  At a reasonable hour of the morning, Angelina knocked on Gourry's bedroom door and was let in by a cheerful Gourry.  That made her feel even worse.  After taking a deep breath, Angelina seated herself on the bed, followed by Gourry, and began.

            "Gourry, do you know who Zelda is?"

            Something clicked in Gourry's brain, but he ignored it.  "Nope.  Who's that?"

            "Umm… Well, I have reason to believe that she was an old girlfriend of yours."

            "Eh?  I had a girlfriend?  Huh.  What about it?"

            "Do you remember her at all?"

            "Uh….  What were we talking about?"

            "Zelda!  Your old girlfriend.  You know, from school… She was your best friend's girlfriend first… Blonde, curly hair, blue eyes, nice smile… You don't remember her at ALL?"

            "I don't think so.  Wait a minute.  How do you know all that?"

            "I visited your memory bank."

            "Oh.  Okay, if you say so.  … Wait, WHAT?!  You mean that dream actually happened?"

            "Yes."

            "Uh…Okay…"

            The description finally sunk into Gourry's thick head and memories came back at full force.  His eyes widened as he stared ahead, but not at Angelina.

            "Zelda Gredowski.  My best friend's girl… The one who gave me a Forget Me potion.  Now I remember…"

            Gourry snapped out of his trance and grabbed hold of Angelina's arms.  Urgently he shook her and said, "What happened to me?  Where's Zelda?  Where am I?  Where's Za – "

            Gourry's grip loosened as he looked down solemnly.  Angelina became very concerned for Gourry and his health.  In her eyes, he did not look well at all.

            "Gourry-san.  Are you all right?  Can I do anything to help?"

            "Just – Just let me be alone for a while.  I need to seriously think about this."

            Gourry turned from Angelina, who was very puzzled.  Gourry wasn't acting normally.  "Seriously" think?  Leave him alone?  Not like him at all.  Angelina closed her eyes and leaned against Gourry's back.  She whispered, "All right, Gourry.  If that's what you want, take all the time you need.  I'll come check up on you later, with Kollina.  I'll leave you with your thoughts."  With that, Angelina quietly slipped out the door.  Gourry sighed and flopped down on the bed.  For just five minutes of talking, Angelina had confused Gourry greatly, and now his mind was filled with loose memories and information.  This would take some time to sort out.

            Just outside the door, Angelina met Kollina face-to-face.  Walking a bit past her, Angelina murmured, "I gather you heard everything?"  Kollina nodded and they walked in silence.  With new determination, Kollina and Angelina set out to find the elusive Zelda Gredowski, or at least her residence.  This time, they were met with success.  Not only was Gredowski under the local directory, they also found some useful information on the family.

            According to the record, the family now only consisted of a Stefan and Lola Gredowski – No Zelda.  Angelina was somewhat surprised to find that Stefan was actually the head of the Experimentation Guild.  They decided to find and question him about the whereabouts of Zelda.  Unfortunately, to their immense disappointment, they discovered that due to a large explosion while doing an experiment, Zelda had died exactly five years ago.  In addition to that, the explosion had taken out the house and all of Zelda's work.  When Kollina asked about the Forget Me potion, Stefan replied that the only formula for it was among the things lost in the explosion.  Not even the ashes remained.  Angelina and Kollina returned to the mansion with heavy hearts (figuratively speaking of course.  The Lina spirit trio are all nonliving).

            When Gourry didn't come down for dinner, everyone knew that something was wrong.  Kollina and Angelina volunteered to see what was up, even though they already knew.  Kollina knocked on the door.  Upon hearing a mumbled response, she opened it.  Gourry was sitting up on the bed, hugging his knees while keeping his head down.  This made Angelina go way past the beginning stage of worry.  She rushed towards him and put a kind hand on his shoulder.  Gourry's head jolted up, but after recognizing Angelina's angelic face (^_^), he immediately calmed down.  Kollina stayed by the door as Angelina attempted to calmly talk to Gourry.

            "Gourry-san.  I'm afraid that Zelda is gone.  She died in an explosion caused by one of her experiments.  I'm sorry."

            Gourry quietly mumbled, "It's not your fault."

            "You shouldn't dwell on the past anyway.  I don't want you to live the rest of your life in depression because of this.  It'll do you and the rest of the world good to be the happy-go-lucky that you've always been."

            "But Angelina, you don't understand.  I /killed/ my best friend, and right after I stole his girlfriend too."

            "That WASN'T your fault!  Zack allowed you to kiss her in the first place, so he should have been aware that she might start to see you differently.  Then Zelda was the one who broke up with him to be with you.  Also, Zack intentionally rammed your carriage with his cart that night.  You only swerved out of self-protection, and for Zelda, too.  You had no idea that that would happen.  It wasn't your fault.  Can't you see that?"

            Gourry only looked down in stubborn silence.  Kollina sighed and said her piece.

            "She's right you know.  I'm sure that nobody wants to see you this depressed, or to not see you at all.  You don't want to end up like how Zelgadis was, do you?  Never smiling, laughing, or barely even talking."

            Gourry said a muffled, "Well, no.  But what am I going to do now that I remember what happened?"

            Angelina answered, "Continue to live your life how you had before – With me.  Come and live with me in my castle.  Now that the potion's effect has finally worn off, I believe that you are now a bit older and wiser, no?  So, if you're nice and happy, I'll even allow you to become future king to Zelphilia."

            Gourry was slightly puzzled.  "King?  How could I-  Wait, you mean it?  You really want to get married now?"  Gourry's hope was soaring through the ceiling now.

            Angelina laughed lightly.  "Oh Gourry dear.  I've always had my heart set on marrying you.  Especially since you first proposed."

            Gourry was now what some might call elated.  He hugged Angelina tightly, grief gone straight out the window.

            "I'm so glad!  It seemed as if every time I tried to propose, you became ill just to keep me away."

            "Oh of course not, Gourry!  The first time, Lina simply couldn't handle the stress of all of us trying to get out at once.  After you proposed, she just couldn't hold us in anymore, and fainted while we came out.  The second time, Lina only had me with her, so that makes her-well, me- three times weaker against evil artifacts and powers.  I suppose it was just a matter of bad timing and choosing."

            "Uh…Okay…"

            Kollina interrupted once more, but with a smile on her face.  "So, when do you want to leave?"

            Gourry immediately replied, "As soon as possible!"

            Angelina agreed.  "Yes, we've already been gone three months.  It's time I come home already."

A/N:  I don't really need to post another chapter right?  I mean, you know what will happen with Angelina and Gourry… they'll get married and live happily ever after as the King and Queen of Zelphilia.  Now, if you want me to write addition chapters with what happens with the other couplings, just review and wait.  Oh, by the way, for anyone who can tolerate Pokemon, please read my newest fic, **Pokemaster Lina** through my bio page.  From the title, you can already guess that it's a Slayers x/over to Pokemon.  Well, until next time!


	14. Fourteen Wedding Preparations

A/N:  Sorry I took so long!  I was almost done with the chapter when the computer crashed.  Five pages were lost! *_*  Anyway, enough about this.  Just to let you know, there will be a lot of dialogue in this chapter.  As you can see from the title, this is about the preparation period for Gourry and Angelina's wedding.  Given that Lina's the one getting married . . . You can expect an eventful and memorable celebration . . .  On with the fic!

Disclaimer:  I do not own Slayers or anything else that isn't mine.

Fourteen – Wedding Preparations

            Angelina, Gourry, and Kollina tiredly trudged through the front gates of the Zephilian castle.  They nonchalantly went inside and simultaneously flopped onto a large, crimson-red, satin sofa, in the same manner.  A nearby page ran to alert the Royal family and Lina's friends.  In a matter of minutes, King Inverse, Luna, Zel, and Amelia were looking down at them.  At the moment all three pairs of eyes were closed in a slumber-like trance.  However, when Kollina heard Zel stop in front of her, she automatically stood up (slowly), slung both her arms around his neck, and gave him a quick kiss before . . . she fell asleep.

            Zel staggered under her sudden weight (he's weaker in human form), but managed to finally seat her back next to Angelina.  With a raised eyebrow, Luna eyed Gourry, Lina, and Kollina.  Lina's head was resting peacefully on Gourry's shoulder, as Gourry's head was on her head.  They all looked like they were in a deep sleep, but if you sensed their energy levels, they were just barely awake (except Gourry of course).  After a few moments, Luna asked, exasperated, "Exactly why are you three so exhausted?"

            Slowly opening one dreary eye, Kollina yawned and answered, "We traveled to quickly for our own good.  We wanted to get here as soon as possible, so we took a direct route from Barbados to here without any stops, in a week's time."

            Angelina softly added, "Yes, it also didn't help that it started to snow halfway here and that we had to cross a mountain range."

            Gourry just continued to snore.

            Zelgadis was vastly surprised.  "If you wanted to get here in record time, why didn't you just teleport?"

            At that, Angelina and Kollina's eyes shot open.  They glanced at each other and then at Zel.  Angelina asked Kollina, "What was our reason again?"

            Kollina comically pondered a bit before replying, "Umm… I think the snow clogged up some of my memory.  Let's see… I know we didn't lose our powers because Angelina summoned food for us on the way… Teleporting would have been much quicker…. hmm…."

            Angelina looked at Gourry, shook him awake, and asked him, "Gourry dear, do you know why we didn't teleport back here from Barbados?"

            Gourry was still in a sleepy daze.  "Here?  Zephilian Castle?  Barbados?  Didn't you say that Humans couldn't teleport as well without getting mentally injured?"

            Kollina snapped her fingers.  "Yeah, that was it.  Now I remember saying that."

            Zel and Amelia stared at Gourry, and then glanced at each other.

            At the same time, they both asked, "Is it me, or did Gourry actually remember something from a week ago?"

            Angelina just had to laugh at that.  "Yes, yes, it's true.  Gourry can actually remember things.  The expedition was a success."  Gourry yawned widely.

            Seeing this, King Inverse cheerfully said, "That's all fine and dandy.  You travelers seem perfectly exhausted.  Go up to your rooms and sleep away.  We'll call you for dinner when it's ready."

            At the word 'Dinner', Gourry's eyes shot open.  "Dinner?  Where? Where?  I don't see it . . . ."

            Supporting each other, Kollina, Angelina, and Gourry got up.  Angelina patted Gourry on the shoulder and told him that dinner would be ready after they slept.  With a wave of goodbye, Angelina used a spell to levitate the trio to their rooms.  When they got to the hallway, Kollina and Angelina snickered evilly as Kollina went into Zel's room and Angelina and Gourry went into Gourry's room.  There, they all changed into their pajamas, slipped into bed, and fell asleep blissfully.

            Lina-tachi had come back early in the morning, a little before Zel had to go back to the Sorcery Guild (Kollina forced him to in **Inner Beings**).  Zel was still going there every day, and it exhausted him.  Around mid-afternoon, he walked into his room, directly went to his adjoining bathroom, and took a refreshing shower.  When he dried off, Zel finally noticed the abnormal lump on his bed.  The lump shifted slightly.  Ever so slowly, Zel crept up to the bed and with a quick flick, flipped back the bed cover.

            To say Zel was surprised by what he found would be an understatement.  There, in his bed, was Kollina in a skanky, black (trimmed with gold), two-piece (spaghetti strap and short shorts ^_^) pajama outfit.  Due to her lack in layers, Kollina easily felt the sudden cold air when Zel pulled down the covers.  She wearily opened her eyes and blinked and Zel.  Still half-asleep, she closed her eyes, slung an arm around Zel's neck, hauled him into bed next to her, pulled the covers back up, and snuggled up against him.  After surprise wore off, Zelgadis sighed, and fell asleep with Kollina.

            That was the position that Amelia walked in on, three hours later.  She decided to wake up Zelgadis first.  Amelia had hoped to catch him with cute little messed up bed hair, but she would have no such luck.

            Amelia knocked on Zelgadis' bedroom door.  No answer.  She knocked again and this time asked, "Zelgadis-san.  Are you awake?"

            This woke up Kollina, but in order to have a little fun, she put a silence/paralyzing spell on Zelgadis, so that it would seem that he was still asleep.

            Amelia sighed and slowly opened the creaking door.  For kicks, Kollina had left it unlocked.  Tentively, Amelia walked towards the bed.  Softly, she murmured, "Zelgadis-san?"  Kollina chose that moment to sit up from behind Zelgadis.  Amelia jumped a little at the sight of Kollina, but didn't have time to recover before Kollina phased in directly in front of her face and mimicked Xellos' finger wag.

            "Tsk, tsk, tsk.  Amelia-chan, don't you know it's rude to barge into a person's room without asking?"

            "Uh… Kollina-san, what are you doing here?"

            "Hm?  Why, Zelly-chan over there /invited/ me to his bed."

            At that, Amelia blushed 20 different shades of red.

            "Now then, why did you say you were here?"

            "I-I- I didn't.  L-Luna sent me up to tell everybody that dinner was ready."

            "Oh?  Is that all?"

            Amelia nervously nodded.

            "Alright then.  I'll wake up Zelly and we'll come down after we've changed to more appropriate clothes.  If you want to find Lina, she'll probably be in Gourry's room.  Just mention food and they'll come running."

            Amelia stood erect in shock.  Kollina sighed.

            "Alright, I'll give you a little jump start."

            With a flick of her finger, Kollina used a levitation spell to float Amelia just outside the door.  As she gave a quick wave goodbye, Kollina also made the door shut in front of her.

            Dazed, Amelia robotically started walking towards Gourry's room.  Learning from her previous mistake, Amelia made sure to stay on the hall side of the door.  She knocked three times in succession without reply.  Then she loudly declared towards the door, "Gourry-san, Angelina-san, Dinner's ready."

            As soon as they heard those last two words, Gourry and Lina replied, "We'll be down in a second!"

            Amelia knew this to be true, so she walked downstairs to the dining hall ahead of them.  Soon enough, the three travelers came running into the dining hall followed by a smirking Zel.  They all seated themselves and started eating as soon as the food arrived (King Inverse and Luna are there of course).  Halfway through the meal, Amelia glanced at Kollina and Zel sitting across from her and immediately blushed too hard to even eat.  Once Gourry had finished his meal, he saw that Amelia wasn't touching her food.  So, of course, he asked her, "Hey Amelia, are you going to finish that?"

            She dazedly shook her head and Gourry took her plate.  When dinner was over, King Inverse attempted to convince Lina and Gourry to stay at the castle permanently.  Lina and Gourry listened to his reasoning, but were still not sure, at least, that's what the King thought.  All the while, Amelia was staring at Kollina and Zelgadis, who were engrossed in a seemingly interesting subject.  She was still blushing furiously.  Luna finally saw this and asked, "Amelia, what's up with you? (Okay, so I don't think that's what Luna would say, but it works)  Why are you so red?"

            Amelia blushed furiously and looked down at her hands (lap), without replying.  Everybody else stopped their conversation to look at Amelia.  Slightly amused, Kollina read Amelia's mind and laughed aloud at Amelia's problem.  She then telepathically told Angelina what it was.  She, too, giggled with glee.  When they both stopped laughing, Kollina told Amelia, "Don't you worry Amelia-chan,  That's nothing to be embarrassed about.  It's not as if you had walked in on anything personal, at least not to you."

            Surprised, Amelia looked up at Angelina.  "But-But I saw . . . What do you mean?"

            Angelina replied for both of them.  "We simply like to sleep in our partners' bed.  (^_^)  We're all adults, so it's really no big deal.  Then again, if you want to be technical, Kollina and I are more than 500 years old so . . ."

            It took a few moments for everyone (except Lina and Kollina) to register Angelina's words.  Then, they shouted simultaneously, "WHAT?!?!"

            Ever so innocently, Angelina asked back, "What?"

            Try to look at it calmly, King Inverse stated, "Well, Lina dear, it's just that the way you said it, makes it sound like you sleep in Gourry's bed every day."

            She replied simply, "Well, I do, and Kollina sleeps in Zel's bed whenever she can, too.  Kollina's much older than I am, so she has every right to sleep with whoever she wants, right?"

            Kollina grinned and nodded.

            Amelia eyed them both wearily.  "Just /how/ much older are you?"

            Angelina held up a hand and answered, "Well, I'm around 900 years old."

            Everyone's eyes bugged out, but they got even wider when Kollina also answered, "And I'm around, um…, well, I forgot how old I am, but let's just say I'm older than Celphied and Shabringdo."

            Gourry was the first to respond, "What the . . . I'm marrying a mummy?"

            Gourry suddenly felt a large smack on his head that sent him crashing into a wall.  Soon, Mazolina phased in behind where Gourry had been sitting.  She did a small mock Naga-laughter before telling Gourry, "That wasn't very nice, Gourry.  You should learn how to avoid those things when you two get married."

            King Inverse and Luna stood up at the same time (there seems to be a lot of that in this chapter, huh?) and questioned, "Lina-chan and Gourry-san are getting MARRIED?"

            Mazolina seemed to grin from ear to ear.  "You seem to have received a lot of surprising information in the last 10 minutes, haven't you?"

            Kollina asked her, "Just how long have you been here, and where's Xellos?"

            "Oh, I got here a little before dinner started, so I saw what you were doing.  I'm proud to say that you got that sneaky edge from me, am I right?"  Kollina and Angelina sighed and agreed.  Mazolina then snapped her fingers and Xellos appeared in the air high above them.  Once again, Mazolina's spell caught him off guard, so he was vainly trying to flap his arms and keep balance.  However, he just ended up plummeting to the ground next to Mazolina.  At that, Mazolina gestured a hand towards Xellos and finished, "And there's Xellos."

            Luna sighed and repeated the question.  "Lina, exactly when do you plan on getting married and when you do, I hope you realize that I'm going to make you stay here and rule,"

            This time, Kollina answered.  "Angelina appointed me in charge of wedding preparations and Mazolina in charge of maximum security.  She plans to hold the wedding during the snowy holiday, so the city will already be packed.  So that's about another three months away.  And yes, Lina knows full well that she is expected to rule this country along with Gourry in the future, and we'll be with her to make sure that she'll be a great queen."

            Angelina yawned suddenly.  "Okay, if that's settled, I'd like to go back to sleep.  After draining my powers the past week, eight hours of sleep just isn't sufficient enough.  You can start the preparations whenever you want, as long as you get it done by the holiday.  Good night everyone."

            After Angelina left, everyone agreed to start planning the next day and they all went to sleep in their respective rooms.

            The three months passed very quickly at the Zephilian castle.  Kollina decided to have it at least half done by hand, so it took a whole month to get the decorations made and set up on the newly painted walls.  Kollina also ordered polish and new tablecloths for 30 round tables (6 people per table).  Within the first month, Kollina sent out the wedding invitations.  The model looked something like this:

To: (First and Last Name of Invited Person)

You are cordially invited to share the momentous 

occasion of (Princess) Lina Inverse and (Sir) Gourry Gabriev's wedding.

The wedding is set for Snowy Day Eve (I'm bad at making up names) at

the Zephilian castle at noon.  If you can make it, please send back a reply through

the Magic Express to Kollina Inverse, and remember to bring this invitation to the gate.

Have a nice day!

            By the end of the first month, all of the invited replied back.  Kollina also made sure to have at least two scores (20) of waiters/waitress and another 20 people for cooking.  By the time Snowy Day Eve arrived, everything was perfect.

A/N:  Hi!  I know, this chapter was too short to make up for not updating in *counts on fingers* four whole weeks!  I hope you believe in quality over quantity! ^_^  In case you want to know, the Magic Express is about as instant as e-mailing, but you have to write it by hand.  Simple enough, ne?  Hm…I haven't shown much L/X in this fic huh?  Well, it is revolving around L/G, but I'll see what I can do….*Insert evil snicker* 


	15. Fifteen The Final Goodbye

A/N:  Alright, so they didn't get married in the last chapter like I said, but I just didn't feel like putting the wedding with that chapter.  However I can promise you that this will be the last chapter of **The Crystal Child**.  It includes a wedding and a goodbye.  Read, Savor, and Enjoy!  Please R&R!

Ch. 15 – The Final Goodbye

            L-sama chose Snowy Day Eve to have it actually snow.  It was light, but as bright and white as an angel (^_^).  The streets were bustling with activity – shopping for presents/souvenirs, rushing to the castle, meetings, everything you might expect on the biggest holiday of the year (Like Christmas).  Zelphilia was literally packed to its max amount.  The reason was not only because of Zelphilia's famous wine festival in winter, or the normal hustling of the holidays, but because the heir to the Zelphilian throne would finally get married that very day.

            Meanwhile, from the castle window, Mazolina carelessly looked outside to the over-packed streets, and sweatdropped.  Mumbling half to herself, and half to the other two companions in the room she said, "Today sure is packed.  I never knew Zelphilia was so famous with the tourists.

            Angelina sighed in her seat as Kollina fixed her hair.  "It usually isn't.  I'm guessing my wedding made Zelphilia five times more popular than before.  I know it's supposed to be a good thing, but what if it delays all of my guests?"

            Kollina reassured her somewhat.  "Well, some of the guests are already in the castle.  Like Luna for instance."

            Angelina shuddered.  "You actually wrote an invitation to Lina's sister?"

            Kollina laughed lightly.  "Of course, it would be rude not to."

            Stroking her chin in a contemplative way, Mazolina wondered out loud, "Just how many people did you invite?"

            "Hmmm… I don't know, probably around 100 to 300 people."

            "That many?!"

            "Well, Lina has met quite a few people on her travels you know.  That doesn't even include her childhood friends before she started traveling."

            "Wow . . . Lina actually /had/ friends during childhood?"

            "Hey!  I'm right here, you know."

            Mazolina softly replied as she went out the door, "I know."

            By noon, everyone was dressed, all the guests had arrived, and everything was in place.  Before long, the wedding march began and Angelina came through the doors.  On her right side was Gourry.  Both were looking confident and seemed to be bathed in an angelic glow.  Once at the marriage platform, the priest began.  Who better to act as a priest, than the Mysterious Priest Xellos?  Since Mazolina was in the room, Xellos kept his mischievousness in check, but that didn't mean he could act abnormally . . . happy.

            "Dearly beloved *Gag* We are here to . . ."(BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA I can't remember it all)

            Meanwhile, in the back, Kollina and Mazolina were watching from afar.  Since they look VERY similar to the bride, they felt that they shouldn't be up there with her.  When Xellos got to the "I do" part, Angelina, Mazolina and Kollina all felt a sudden jolt of pain in their "hearts".  Worried, Gourry held Angelina up and asked, "Lina, are you all right?  What's wrong?"

            In a ragged breath, Lina breathed, "I'm alright.  It's. Nothing.  Please.  Continue."

            Gourry eyed Angelina in a worried way, but nodded for Xellos to continue.

            "Do you, Gourry Gabriev, take Lina Inverse as your lawfully wedded wife? (Sorry if anything is out of place)"

            Gourry looked at Angelina as he replied, "I do."

            "And do you, Lina Inverse, take Gourry Gabriev as your lawfully wedded husband?"

            Smiling wanly, she also replied, "I. Do."

            "The rings please."

            Zane handed Gourry a beautiful ruby ring surrounded by multiple diamond dust.  Luna also handed Lina a gold band(groom ring) with a hint of sapphire melted into it.  Lina put the sapphire ring on Gourry first.  Then, when Gourry put the ruby ring directly above the engagement ring, the two rings molded into one in a spectacular shine of light.  The spectators 'ah' ed at that.

            "I now pronounce you Husband and Wife, and the future rulers of Zelphilia!"

            The crowd burst into applause as Xellos added, "You may now kiss the bride."

            The three spirits felt another twinge of pain, but Angelina ignored it for the sake of the wedding.  After the kiss, Luna crowned Lina with a tiara, and Gourry was given the royal scepter.  As Lina and Gourry headed out to the balcony, everyone poured out of the room to go to the wedding reception area.  The balcony overlooked the town, or the part closest to the castle.  The whole area silenced as the new couple made their royal opening speech.  Once finished, everyone cheered, and the duo went out back to the party.

            At the party, everyone was cheerful and happy.  The spirits no longer felt pain as the mingled with old friends.  One in particular, was Martina and Zangulus.

            "Gourry!  I challenge you to a fight!"

            Gourry and Lina groaned, but walked over to them.

            "How are you Martina-san, Zangulus-san?"

            "Ohohoho We're just fine.  We are almost finished with the rebuilding of the Kingdom Xoana!"

            "Oh really?  How much longer do you think it will be?"

            "A year at the most.  We wouldn't have had to rebuild it at all if you hadn't blown it all up!"

            "But you /asked/ for my help, remember?"

            "I asked you to destroy the laser cannon, not my kingdom!"

            "Well, I didn't have much of a choice, you know.  Besides, it was more Mazolina's fault than mine."

            "Mazolina?  Who's that?"

            "Oh, you don't know, do you?  Well, let's just say that she's my evil twin, no triplet."

            Martina back away a little from Angelina.

            "Zangulus, haven't you gotten over that by now?"

            "I want to see how strong the Howling Sword Part 2 Revised is!"

            "Give me a break, I won fair and square years ago."

            "A fight is a fight.  I want a rematch!  Especially since I heard that you lost the Sword of Light!"

            "Well, I did give it away…  Ugh.  Lina, do you mind?"

            "Hm?  Of course not.  Just try not to get your clothes dirty and use the sword that I gave you."

            "Okay.  Alright Zangulus.  You want a fight, you got it.  Let's go."

            "Yes!  Please excuse me Martina dear.  A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do."

            Martina sighed.  She muttered, "Yeah, lose."

            Angelina giggled a little at that.  Gourry and Zangulus went over to the stage where the orchrestra/band was playing.  The band quickly changed the music to fighting music, once they got the request from Lina herself.  The two swordsmen stood in stance on either side of the stage.  The rest of the guest quieted down to watch the fight.  The men unsheathed their swords and held them in front of them.  It was down to a staring contest.  Finally, with a side whistle from Mazolina, the fight began in a flurry of parries and clashing of swords.

            After the first round, the two fighters jumped back to the corners, and a quick survey of hits was observed.  Zangulus had a cut on his cheek, and several small slashes on his clothes.  Gourry, on the other hand, was completely cut free.  However, a few marks could be seen on his sword blade.  With a smirk, the fighting began once more.  It was longer and more visible this time, but in the end, Gourry knocked Zangulus' sword out of reach and put the blade tip to his throat.  After Zangulus acknowledged he won, Gourry waved his sword away from Zangulus, nodded, and went off the stage.  The crowds burst into applause once more.  After Angelina healed Zangulus and Gourry polished the sword, they went to mingle once more.

            Among other people, they talked to people as important as the spirit form of Rezo and Copy Rezo, to people as annoying as Shadow Lina and Naga, to as unimportant as the waitress that Lina saved when Shabringdo was reborn.  Virtually every human/humanoid person that Lina had talked to or had anything to do with, was there.  Even Marco and Sera were there from the outer world.  Then, about an hour or two in, who should suddenly arrive but . . . the Dragon Fangs!  Yes, given time, the group of bandits multiplied to their previous amount, before they ever met Lina Inverse.

            "Alright, hand over all of your money and valuables or else!"  declared the blue-haired bandit from long ago.

            With a nod from Angelina, Mazolina stepped forward from the crowd and crossed her arms.  "Or else what?"

            Immediately, all of the bandits became shaky.  One random bandit asked, "J-just w-who's wedding is this?"

            Angelina decided to have a little fun as well and stepped behind Mazolina and then showed herself.  "Why, it's mine.  Who did you think it was?"

            Now the bandits were backing away.  "T-two Lina Inverses?  How can that be?"

            Now Kollina also came forward.  "Make that /three/ Lina Inverses."

            Being the kind soul that she is, Angelina invited them to join the celebration.

            "What are you, crazy?  There's no way we're hanging around here!  Run, boys, run!"

            Mazolina burst into laughter as the bandits hightailed it out of there.

            The snow had stopped coming down now, but it left quite a large blanket of white on the ground.  The kids frolicked and played while the adults sat at tables chatting the time away.  Before anyone knew it, the sun was setting.  Slowly, the guests started on their way home, while the closer friends were prepared to stay overnight.  While Gourry was kissing Angelina's neck softly (they're sitting down), Mazolina joked that maybe they should start their honeymoon now.  Angelina giggled with glee and Gourry just smiled sheepishly.  Suddenly a severe pain struck Angelina.  Kollina and Mazolina also felt it, but not as bad as Angelina.

            Worriedly, Kollina asked Mazolina as she tended to Angelina, "You felt that too, right?"

            Mazolina nodded.  "What do you think this means?  Three times in one day, and it looks severe."

            Kollina grimly gave her answer.  "We all know what it must mean – L-sama is ticked off with us."

            Hearing this, Angelina's eyes widened.  "You don't mean –"

            Kollina nodded.  "I'm afraid so.  We have no choice."

            Angelina cried out again as she was struck once more.

            As everyone worried over Angelina, Kollina spoke to the other two spirits.

            "We have to leave now.  The more time we spend away from Her, the angrier She will become."

            "But I /just/ got married today!  Why now?"

            "It's /because/ you got married that She is angered.  During time, we forgot that us spirits aren't actually allowed to love another human that deeply, much less marry at any time.  Mazolina and I also broke that rule, but you went a step further and got married."

            Listening in, Gourry finally caught on to everything.  "Wait, is that why Lina always stayed away from anything that could possibly turn into something?"

            Mazolina looked at him and merely nodded.  "You never actually asked about that?  What took you so long?"

            "I don't know…"

            "Alright, enough squabbling.  We don't have much time to lose.  Once /we/ go, the original Lina will return."

            Confused once more, Gourry asked another question.  "Wait a minute.  What do you mean the /original/ Lina?"

            Kollina sighed.  "The princess Lina.  What Lina would be without us there."

            Zel sarcastically answered, "A spoiled brat with less power?"

            Mazolina considered this before answering, "Well, I suppose you could put it that way."

            "Alright Angelina, get up.  It's time to do some self-extracting."

            "Wait!  Will you ever come back?"

            As Angelina was helped up, Kollina answered, "Another time, another place in this world, but have no worries, we /will/ be back.  Hopefully, what we have done will still be remembered then."

            "Goodbye everyone, we'll miss you.  Let's go, Kollina-san."

            "Yes, farewell, when we come back, you will no longer be alive, but hopefully your descendants will be. *Kollina mentally begins chanting a spell*"

            "Gourry, make sure you protect Lina and Zelphilia well.  Make them happy.  Bye."

            In a shimmer of gold, and separate white, black, and red auras, the three spirits slowly rose to the skies.  As soon as the spirits floated out of the bodies, the bodies fell limp, unconscious.  Gourry, Zel, Amelia, Xellos, Luna, and the remaining guests watched as the spirits floated out of sight, but not out of mind.  After a while, the guests went home, and the close group of friends hauled the three Linas into the castle to wait for them to wake up.

            The bodies previously inhabited by Kollina and Mazolina woke up first.  They sat up, looked around, looked at each other, smirked, and disappeared with a gold bubble pop (like the mini-copies).

            Luna answered the question on everybody's minds.  "When copies are no longer needed and have no desire to continue to stay alive, they disappear out of existence."

            Soon enough, the real Lina also woke up.  She looked around at everyone.  Lina yawned and then spoke.  "What's everybody looking at?  You look as if I'm a freak show or something.  Well stop it!  I'm hungry!"

            Everyone laughed and led Lina to the dining hall, where she feverishly began gobbling up the food.  As everyone else watched her, they smiled and simultaneously thought, 'That's our Lina.'

THE END

A/N:  *Yawn*  I'm tired.  Do you like the ending?  My reasoning is simple: If you did, review.  If you didn't, still review.  If you want to tell me what's wrong with it, go ahead and review.  Catch my drift?  Again, if you can stand Pokemon at all, please read my Slayers x-overs to Pokemon.  The titles are **Pokemaster**** Lina** and **Tales From Fire**.  You can access them from my bio page.  Thanks for reading!


	16. Epilouge and Ending Notes

A/N: Again, the last chapter I wrote was supposed to be the last chapter in this story, but for those of you who wanted it or might find it interesting, here are the Ending Notes and the Epilogue.

~Epilogue~

            Over lunch after Princess Lina was revived, Luna asked Lina what she remembered.  Now King, Gourry along with Zelgadis and Amelia, attempted to follow Lina's extensive explanation.  To quote:

            "In order to know what I remember, I have to explain something.  As you know, Mazolina, Kollina, and Angelina all "possessed" me at some point in my childhood.  The day I ran away from home was the day that I had discovered what was actually happening inside me.  So I took off saying that I wanted to see the world before I had to take the throne.  Although that was actually true, my ulterior motive was to enhance my relationship with the spirits so that I could control and communicate with them.  I feel that I did pretty well, but nobody can completely control spirits as strong as them.

            "Recently, as you may have seen, any of the spirits could take over my mind when **my **spirit was unconscious, and if I wasn't already asleep, they would still take me over and make my body do some things that I normally might not do.  Therefore, when they took over, I had no idea whatsoever of what they were doing unless I was 'awake'.  At that point, if I didn't like what they were doing, I would beat down their spirits inside me until I regained possession of my body.  Other than that, I basically remember everything (Including the wedding).  Understand?"

            Gourry, Zel, and Amelia simultaneously shook their heads and said, "Not at all."

Lina sighed but nodded.

            After that, they talked nothing more of the subject, excluding a comment every once in a long while.  Having retired from the bandit killing business, Lina was free to happily rule alongside her husband, Gourry.  King Inverse and Luna taught them everything that they needed to know.  But since they weren't the official rulers of Zelphilia yet, they had time to dress in the traveling clothes and mingle with the townfolk.  Thus, when King Inverse died of a heart attack when Lina was almost 23 years old, everyone adored their rulers from the start.

            Having been greatly influenced by the spirits, mainly Mazolina, Lina charged high taxes for everyone in the country of Zelphilia.  But the people gladly paid it because of three reasons.  1.) They knew what could be the consequences of angering the former Enemy-of-all-who-Live 2.) They adored Lina very much 3.) Lina also found ways to increase their salaries, overall economy, and food by at least 20 fold.  This allowed the people to upgrade their houses and work buildings (inns, restaurants, shopping, etc.) before Lina's 1st year of reign was over.

            As for Gourry, Lina put him in charge of military preparation, protection, and building of Zelphilia – basically, he was the head handyman.  The townspeople loved him as well, for several reasons. 1.) He was a sweet and loving character to everyone 2.) He could tame even the worst of Lina's tantrums (even though Lina still hit him constantly) 3.) He took the time to train Zelphilia's army and increased their power, speed, and stamina more the 20 fold, enough to make Zelphilia's army the strongest in offense in defense in the Old World as well as the New Outer World.  After training the army, Gourry did a special magic Crystal Ball Show (Like TV in a crystal ball) teaching anyone who watched it, how to defend themselves in case of an emergency.  He also led a special class in self defense in the castle.  Therefore, even the townspeople were strong.

            Working together, not necessarily side-by-side, Lina and Gourry upgraded, changed, and improved Zelphilia to its highest possible potential.  Then, after the improvement period slowed down (in about two years), Lina gave birth to a beautiful red-haired, blue-eyed girl.  From the first hour that they spent together, the new parents knew that their child, Liona (Gourry+Lina=Liona=Li-chan), would greatly resemble Lina as she grew up.

            Zelgadis, now able to transform between Chimera and human at will, married Amelia and lived in the city of Seyruun.  Since Zelgadis had remet Amelia in Xoana (in Slayers Next), he had secretly adored Amelia.  But when Kollina had confessed, he had to admit that he had also liked Lina, but now more like a close friend.  Well, the same year that Lina and Gourry had Liona, Amelia and Zel had a black-haired, ice blue-eyed boy that they named Zeldigas after Gourry's mispronunciation of Zelgadis when they had first met.  Zeldigas, nicknamed Zelly (^_^), proved to also be unique.  On his forehead was a single diamond-shaped stone that glowed whenever Zelly would cry or use his powers.  It was a sign of power, not weakness; just like his father.

            Upon observing the birth and watching them both grow up, L-sama struck an interesting idea.

            Not looking behind her, she asked Kollina, "What do you say to a little matchmaking in the near future?"

            Grim as ever, Kollina replied, "Who, my mistress?"

            With a mischievous grin, L-sama answered, "Liona and Zeldigas – Both special, Both unique, Both will undoubtedly serve well as junior Chaos Absorbers."

            "As you wish.  When should I start?"

            "Hmm… Don't try to appear too soon, their parents might recognize you.  We'll watch for now, but when they turn five, that is when we will begin.  Slowly and in the shadows, but knowing their parents, it's a sure thing that those two will create chaos."

            Kollina bowed and as she was being absorbed into the deeper realms of the Sea of Chaos.  "Yes L-sama.  I shall be departing now."  Then Kollina teleported herself, to her inner realm in the Sea of Chaos where she hibernating.  Kollina then began the ever so slow procedure of erasing her memory and figure for the coming event.

A/N: ^_^  I can never seem to actually end stories, huh?  Well, if you want, I'll to another sequel after I finish my other fanfic stories (might take a while)  but you have to review first.  Oh and if you can't guess, a Chaos Absorber is someone who creates chaos that not only feeds mazoku, but also adds to the vast amount of chaos in the Sea of Chaos.  Now here's a character profile of Crystal Cascata.

Known as: Crystal or Cece-chan

Job or Status: Apparent Apprentice to the infamous Bandit Killer

Slayers Equivalent: An extremely talented kid who could possibly rival Lina's power at her age.

Age: Currently five years old in human years.  25 in Mazoku

Hair: A glossy sea blue, similar to Sherra's, Dynast's General, with the occasional gold streak

Hairstyle: Hair on either side are at shoulder length, getting gradually longer and meeting in the middle.  Layered to look like a blue flame.

Eyes:  Usually a clear sapphire shade, but when feeling particularly angry, will change to an ice-cold blue

Height: Around 2' 5"

Official Outfit: Pale blue shirt, dark blue pants, black boots, black-interior, blue-exterior cape.  Two matching sapphire barrettes in her hair, a black belt with a gold 

buckle, and a pair of small off-white gloves on her hands

Extra Appendages: None

Aura Color: Light Blue and possibly Gold or Black when performing certain spells

Personality: VERY smart for her age, catches on quickly, is known to start bawling at a moments notice, looks cute at everything she does

Strengths: Can catch opponents offguard with her looks, could kill if needed to, everything in 'Personality'

Weaknesses:  Loses her cool when people mock her **after** she shows an example of her power

Abilities: Is capable of defeating virtually any person, monster, or enemy that she comes against, but chooses to stay away from places that she /knows/ will be trouble

Main Power: Ice spells and the occasional destructive spell

Personal Love: None

Personal A/N:  She is supposedly the reincarnated human form of Dynast and Dolphin's DNA formed child. (Mazoku made, not human made)  Unfortunately, Crystal didn't exactly appear like the kind of kid I wanted her to be, but oh well.  I suppose it doesn't matter all that much.

Ending A/N:  Thank you for reading my story.  I greatly appreciated all of the reviews.  Please read my other stories, thanks again!  If you want, you can review for another sequel, the Adventures of Liona and Zeldigas, but even if I write it, it may not be up for even one or two months.  Well, until next time!

Disclaimer: Why do we need to do this again?  I don't own anything that isn't mine?  How could I anyway?


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